


Saving Grace

by AshREvans



Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Depression, F/M, Fluff, Original Characters Are Side Characters, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-04
Updated: 2017-03-23
Packaged: 2018-08-19 13:23:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 35,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8210113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshREvans/pseuds/AshREvans
Summary: When her world gets flipped upside down and she doesn't know what's up, down, left or right, an angel swoops in and promises to help her. Can Seven really help her through these feelings she's having over a recent break up? Can he make her feel better?





	1. I Know How To Get Out

| _A SOLDIER WITH PTSD FELL IN A HOLE and couldn’t get out. A recovering Soldier with PTSD happened to be passing by. The Soldier with PTSD cried out, “Hey, help me. I’m stuck in this hole!” Right away the recovering Soldier with PTSD jumped down in the hole with him._ |

She laid on her bed, curled up in a ball, memories of what happened almost a month ago plaguing her, making her feel in such a way that she didn’t think she could hang on any longer. She started feeling better the week before, hanging out with her friends, mutual friends of her past lover. But then she found out what he was trying to say to one of those mutual friends and it made her wonder what he was saying to everyone else, how he really felt about her. Questions swirled in her head. Did he ever love her? How long was he leading her on? Does he want her to just disappear?

She didn’t think she could handle hearing about him telling a friend who knew her that she was the problem with their relationship. She already blamed herself for what happen and not a week before he told her to her face when she went to go pick up her things that he didn’t blame her. So why is the song and dance changing? Thoughts like this swirled around her head along with all her questions and each one sent a physical wave of pain from her body as tears fell from her eyes and soaked her pillow.

She wondered how he was able to just turn off how he felt towards her after almost two years of being in love with each other. Was it some kind of potion? Memory erase machine? She wanted to know so that maybe she could start feeling okay again. What would it be like to turn everything off? Would she even feel better?

Her phone buzzed again with another frantic text from a friend of hers that had been there through all of it, stood by her side. It was probably the 20th message since she said anything to him. She couldn’t really blame him for being scared since what she said was scary, but she also couldn’t be bothered to text him back and pretend like she was okay, because honestly, she really wasn’t.

She took a deep shaky breath and tried closing her eyes. Even though the room was dark except from the light of her phone which was now receiving a call from Seven, her eyes were hurting a lot. Now that she thought of it, everything hurt. Her heart, her arms, breathing was becoming difficult, her head. She couldn’t seem to get her arms and legs to move. She couldn’t even force herself out of bed either.

Memories kept swirling around in her head and all she wanted to do was to turn them off. She wanted it all to stop. She wanted everything to stop. She wanted to stop feeling the way she was. She didn’t want to be miserable. She wanted to be happy and healthy and with someone who wouldn’t leave her just because she had a panic attack and didn’t know what to do with herself and couldn’t turn to the one person who promised to be there for her, who promised to help her.

Everyone was saying that she shouldn’t care about him because he isn’t treat her right, that the way that he’s treating her now is inexcusable that it’s a blessing he’s gone because of how he was acting. But she felt like Humpty Dumpty after he fell off the wall and not all the pieces were there. The only pieces that she could find were the piece that still loved him more than anything and would forgive him for what he was doing now regardless of how completely he was destroying her and the piece that was afraid to forgive him because of the possibility that, if she did, something like this would happen again and if it did she was sure that he would be the death of her.

That’s when she started feeling the energy to get up. It was almost automatic, but she stood up. She walked out of her bedroom and found herself walking into the bathroom. She closed the door and locked it behind her, the logic behind why she was doing that was lost on her fractured mind. Her arm reached up and opened the medicine cabinet and she just started pulling out bottles of prescriptions and over the counter drugs. She thought that she heard the front door open, but she couldn’t find herself to care.

When she closed the cabinet she looked at herself in the mirror. Her normally bright (e/c) eyes were now muted and dead looking. There were large circles under her eyes and her hair was unwashed and laying limply on her head. She pushed it out of her face and rubbed her eyes before looking at the medicines on the sink. Just as she reached out to grab the first bottle, she heard frantic pounding on the bathroom door.

“_____! WHATEVER YOU ARE ABOUT TO DO, STOP IT!”

She nearly dropped the bottle and looked up at the door. That was Seven’s voice. “Wh-what are you doing here?” she said.

“Open the door, right now,” he said, ignoring what she asked.

She was too shocked that he was here to do anything other then what he was saying. She turned the lock on handle and the second after the small click signaling that it was unlocked, Seven threw the door open and looked at her. His eyes flicked momentarily from her face to her sink and widened when he saw the amount of medicines on the porcelain. When he looked back at her, he saw the orange ten dram in her hand half filled with Tylenol with codeine from when she had gotten a cystectomy.

_____ could see tears start to well up in his eyes and she found herself wondering why he was crying but before she could open her mouth to ask, she was being pulled against Seven’s chest. His arms crushed her into him as if he was trying to glue the pieces of her back together with the force of his hug. _____ found her arms wrap around her, her hand still clutching the bottle of medicine.

“Please, don’t do this,” he said as he held her. “There would be a lot of people who would be very sad if you just disappeared.”

_____ struggled to find words to counter what he said. Should she give in? Should she ask for proof? She settled on flat out denial, but even as she spoke, she buried her head into his shoulder, hanging onto him as tightly as he held her, the medicine bottle falling to the floor.

“No there aren’t. Everyone is telling me to get over it, that he isn’t worth all of this sadness or pain that I’m feeling. Everyone is telling me that I’m not acting like myself, but honestly, I don’t even know who I am anymore. My reason to live, the person who helped me, just threw me out like yesterday’s garbage and is trying to tell everyone I know that I was the problem,” she sobbed, her tears soaking into Seven’s jacket. He just stood there, holding her and listened as she talked, smoothing out her hair. “I feel like everything that made me _me_ is gone and I don’t know where all the pieces went. I feel empty, hallow, worthless. He’s making me feel empty, hallow, and worthless.”

_____ stopped talking and Seven said nothing for a long time, just holding her as she cried and clung to him. After what felt like almost an hour later; though it was probably only mere seconds or minutes; he spoke.

“Are you done?”

She only nodded.

“Then I want you to listen to me, hear me,” he said, his voice gentle but also forceful. “I’ve been where you are now. Honestly, I guess you could stay that I’m still there. I know exactly how you feel. I’m not going to tell you to get over it, move on. I never once even thought about saying that to you because I know that isn’t what you need. What you need is time, friendship, someone to be there for you. I’m going to be that someone, okay? I care about you more then you know. It hurts me to see someone I care about in so much pain. I’ll miss you so much if you disappear so please, please, don’t leave. Stay here, hang on. Let me help you. I’ll help you see that you aren’t worthless, I’ll help you get your sense of self back, I’ll help you feel whole again,” he said and pulled back to look into her eyes, but didn’t let go, still afraid that if he did, she would fade away. “So please, stay here.”

_____ looked into his golden eyes for a long while before she finally nodded, her own tears slowing. “O-okay…” she said slowly.

Seven smiled softly and reached up and dried away her tears. “Will you do me a favor?” he asked.

_____ tilted her head to the side in question.

“Take a shower. I’m not saying this because you smell or anything. But standing under running water can help sometimes. And then I want you to come out for a walk with me. Is that okay?” he asked gently.

_____ nodded and wiped her eyes again. “All right. I will.”

He gave her another hug and kissed her head affectionately. He knew better than to make any moves on her now, but he also knew that she could use just a little bit of friendly affection and care and that’s what he would provide for her. “Go get clothes and a towel. I’ll clean up this mess,” he said.

She nodded again and slowly made her way out of the bathroom. She walked into her room and pulled out a pair of black jeans and her new favorite sweater. It was early October and the one bright side was she could wear comfy sweaters. When she walked back into the bathroom, Seven was gone and so were all the meds. She knew better then to check the medicine cabinet. She knew that he knew better then to leave them with her the way she was now and a small part of her was thankful to him.

She stayed in the shower for a long time. Seven had a point. The running water did help a little bit. It was more physical help rather than mental help, but the shower subsided the pain in her eyes and arms. It unclogged her nose and even though she was deign to admit it, having clean hair also made her feel better. When she stepped out of the shower, she dried off and dressed before she walked out of the bathroom. She found herself looking around the apartment for Seven only to find him in the kitchen. There was a plate of lightly toasted bread on the island. When she walked through the threshold, Seven turned to look at her.

“I know you probably feel like food would make you sick, but please, try to eat, just a little bit,” he said.

She looked at the toast before sitting down on one of the stools. She picked up the toast and nibbled on the corner before looking up at Seven. “What are you doing here?” she asked, repeating the question she asked him when he banged on the bathroom door.

Seven raised an eyebrow at her. “What do you mean? I’m helping a dear friend.”

“That’s not what I mean and you know it,” she said. “Why do you care what happens to me?”

He was silent for a moment before he smiled sadly at her. “If you have to ask, then you’re not ready for the answer. Just listen to me. I’m going to help you. I don’t want anything bad to happen to someone I care about. You’re a part of the RFA, same as the others, and that makes you a part of my family. If I lost you, it would be like losing a piece of something that I hold very close to my heart. So I’m not going to let that happen.”

_____ sat there for a moment and mulled over what he said. She knew there was something else, because he said that she wasn’t ready for the answer. She decided to take it at face value because a part of her agreed with him and the other part was actually afraid of the implications.

“Oh, by the way, I’m living on the couch until further notice,” Seven said and smirked. “I hope you don’t mind.”

“H-huh?!” she said. “What? Why?!”

“You don’t have a spare room and I’m not leaving you alone. I don’t want to have another heart attack because you randomly text me _Goodbye_ and then don’t answer me,” he said. “You have no idea how afraid I was when you sent that. I thought I was going to—” he stopped himself from finishing his sentence, but the end lingered between the both of them. She knew what he meant by that and he knew that she knew.

“I’m sorry…” she said and bowed her head, placing the barely touched piece of toast back on the plate.

Seven walked up next to her and put a hand on her back while the other went under her chin and lifted her head so she would look at him. “I’m not looking for an apology,” he said and smiled at her. “I just… I don’t want to be that scared again. Seriously, I broke, like, all speed laws just to get here when you didn’t pick up my call,” he said and smiled at her. “I would do anything to make sure that you’re safe and okay. So you never ever need to apologize to me.”

_____ nodded. “Thank you… so much, Seven,” she said.

He gave her a rather awkward hug. “You don’t need to thank me either,” he said before he let go. “Come on, why don’t we go for that walk, now?”

| _The Soldier with PTSD said, “What are you doing? Now we’re both stuck here!!” But the recovering Soldier with PTSD said, “Calm down. It’s okay. I’ve been here before. I know how to get out.”_ |

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will probably have other chapters as I'm using this story to get through something that rocked my world in the bad way. You can probably tell what it is based on the story, but ya know. I thought Seven would be the person who would best understand these feelings, so I'm using him to help me through it with this story. 
> 
> I'm not sure yet, but I think this might be my cry for help.


	2. Staring At the Sky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seven imparts some advice and a shoulder to cry on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to put this here. It's long so you don't have to read it. It's not relevant to the actual story.  
> For those who comment saying that if I needed someone to talk to and left there emails, I really appreciate the thoughtfulness. It means a lot that complete stangers are willing to let me talk to them. Though, I won't take the offers, not because I'm not thankful, because I don't really know what I would say. This story about Reader-chan and Seven... this is my way of talking. The things that Reader-chan is feeling, the depression, anxiety, confusion... it's things that I've been feeling since the beginning of the semester after my boyfriend left me. The things here (aside from the suicide attempt), the things Reader-chan says and feels, are things that I've felt or things that have happened through the past month. I'm finally able to talk about it, and this is my way of doing that. Thank you all for understanding and thank you for your kind words. I hope you all continue to read this series because even though it's a little painful for me to write, I'm actually rather proud of it because it's helping me and its therapeutic in a way. If you know what I mean.  
> So thank you all again for offering me someone to talk to. It really does mean a lot and I hope you all continue to follow this story~

| _You know… when I feel depressed, I stare at the sky. You should try it next time you feel depressed._ |

Seven led her out of the apartment building and down the street. They walked in silence for a while, just aimlessly. He was looking up to the sky, his hands in his pockets while she was looking at her feet, walking close to him so that if he turned, she would know, and if a person started walking towards her, he could pull her out of the way. They were walking for a while and just when _____ was going to ask where they were going, Seven turned into a park. They walked until they found an empty bench and Seven sat down, patting the spot next to him. When she sat down, he spoke.

“Remember what I told you a while ago? About looking at the sky?”

“Sort of.”

He chuckled slightly. “I guess I should remind you,” he said and looked at her. “I said that I do it when I’m depressed and that you should try it. I don’t know what it is about the sky, but looking at it just… makes me feel better some times.”

_____ looked at him for a moment before she turned her head and started to look at the sky like Seven had told her. Despite how she was feeling, it was blue and there were fluffy clouds moving across the sky. She could see a flock of birds flying, too. The whole scene felt a little contradictory to her. Her life was so dark right now, but the sky… it was so bright and, if she had to put an emotion to it, happy. Surprisingly, though, what Seven said was right. It was actually making her feel a little better. The pain didn’t seem as bad, manageable almost.

“Well?” he asked, a hint of teasing in his voice. “Did I give you good advice or was it completely wasted, be honest now.”

When _____ looked at him, she saw the smile on his face and she returned it with a small one of her own, hoping he would understand the meaning behind it.

“Thank you, Seven,” she said.

He brushed his hand over her arm lightly before slipping it back into his pocket. “You don’t need to thank me,” he said. “I told you this before.”

“You know for a fact you can’t stop me from saying what I want,” she said and bumped his arm with her shoulder.

His smile widened just a faction. “Now there is the _____ that I know,” he teased and then stood up. “If I’m going to be living on your couch, I’m going to need to pick up a few things from home,” he said. “Care to come with me or would you rather promise me that you won’t do anything before I get back?”

_____ bowed her head and thought a moment. She never saw Seven’s house before and despite everything, she was rather curious. She also knew that she probably shouldn’t be alone right now because if she was, she would start thinking again, and thinking as the exact opposite of what she should be doing. But she also didn’t particularly feel like going anywhere either. She sighed.

“I’ll go with you,” she said and stood up.

“Cool, come on,” he said and started walking towards where he parked his car.

It was a silent walk and she followed mostly behind him because it was more crowded outside now. As the crowd got denser, there was almost a time where she lost him, but just before she did, she felt him grab her by the wrist and guide her hand onto his sleeve. He smiled back at her.

“Don’t want anyone to try to steal you from me,” he joked before he kept walking.

She couldn’t think of any witty remark to counter what he said. She actually kind of missed the days of mock flirting, but right now, that word didn’t really seem to be in her vocabulary. She also didn’t want to give him the wrong idea and make him think that she had feelings for him. She just got out of a relationship, one that she thought was really good, and jumping right into another one would be wrong. But still, a small part of her entertained the idea of talking to Seven like she used to in the chat rooms. It might even help bring back a sense of normalcy into her life.

She was abruptly snapped out of her thoughts when Seven stopped walking and she ran into his back, getting a face full of black and yellow jacket. She stepped back and looked at him. He wasn’t looking at her, instead he opened the car door for her.

“After you,” he smiled.

She gave him a small smile back. “Such a gentleman, God Seven~” she said.

A little red tinted his cheeks and he ruffled her hair before closing the door and walked to the driver’s side. Once he was in, he started the car. “Next stop, the fortress that is my home.”

They drove in silence and _____ found herself looking out the window, towards the horizon, and thoughts swirled around her head. The same thoughts from earlier before Seven came over and… She took a deep breath to try to calm herself, but it didn’t work out that way. One deep breath led to another and another and another.

A hand on her leg stopped her just before she started to hyperventilate. She looked to her side and Seven looked at her for a second before turning his attention back on the road, putting his hand back on the wheel.

“Talk to me,” he said. “What are you thinking?”

_____ hesitated a moment and then sighed. “I just… I don’t know anymore. What to do, what to think. I want to understand what went wrong. Part of me wants the chance to fix everything, but then the other part…”

“The other part what?” he asked.

She shook her head. “This is what I was thinking just before I went to the bathroom…” she confessed.

He reached over and squeezed her shoulder. “I’m here for you. You can tell me and I won’t let anything happen to you,” he said.

She sighed. “The other part of me is afraid that if we do get back together that something like this would happen again and I wouldn’t be able to handle it. And I keep thinking that if we do get back together, the only way to prevent it from happening again, would be to give up everything I have; my sanity, my mental stability, everything; just to make him happy and keep him with me. The way he’s acting now, it almost seems like my problems never meant anything to him, that he thought all of my problems; my relationship with my mother and sister, issues at home, stressful days; were completely meaningless. He’s making it seem like that I cared more about my problems then I did about his, when I only complained to him in the moment and it was never anything overarching. But with him… his were deeper and would take a while to resolve and he placed all of that responsibility on me and now that he dumped me, he’s trying to make it seem like I never cared about him, that everything wrong with how he ended things was my fault. I don’t know what I would be able to do if something like that happened again,” she reached up and clutched the leather that held the two promise rings she was supposed to give him. “I want to be able to forgive him and build a stronger relationship if he does come back to me, but at the same time, I’m not sure that would be the right thing to do…”

Seven frowned as he listened to her. “I can’t give you the answer to that because it’s not my place to tell you what to do. Just know that whatever you do decide to do, I will be there and I will help you through it,” he said and reached up, pressing a button on a device clipped to his sun visor. “I do know one thing, _____,” he said as he looked at her as he pulled the car into his garage. “You’ll make the right choice, the choice that will ultimately make you happy. And that’s all I want. Your happiness.”

She looked at him and smiled. “Thank you, Seven,” she said.

He put the car in park and ruffled her hair. “You’re welcome,” he said and then got out of the car. “Wait here, I’ll call you when the door is open,” he smirked. “Can’t have you knowing all my secrets yet~”

She couldn’t help but giggle. She nodded and watched from the rear view mirror as he walked towards the door. She let out a sigh and then pulled out her phone and found herself scrolling through some old photos. A grave mistake on her part. On her phone were photos of her… ex… looking happy, smiling. A sad smile found its way onto her face as she looked at a saved snapchat picture where he had stuffed his face with grapes. Or a picture where he was holding the new born child of her older adoptive brother. She opened up the picture she took of him from his most recent haircut and found herself staring at it, remember all the times when they were happy, laughing with each other, just being idiots and kissing.

That’s when her phone rang, the picture of Seven appearing on the screen. She slid her finger across the screen. “When you said call, I didn’t think you meant on the phone. Couldn’t you have just shouted?” she asked, internally cursing when her voice sounded like she had been crying.

She could see him frown from the rearview mirror. “Come here and talk to me,” he said simply and hung up the phone.

_____ sighed and locked her phone before she could look at the picture again and got out of the car, walking over to where Seven was waiting in the doorway. He pushed up his glasses when she stood in front of him and looked down at her.

“What happened?” he asked.

She shook her head. “I was just looking through my pictures and I came across the ones of him and well… I look at him and I remember the good times. And then I remember how he broke my heart and how cold he was when I went to talk to him a week after and I just…” she shook and stopped talking.

Seven reached out and picked her up in his arms and carried her inside. He didn’t say anything as he walked her into the living room and set her down gently on the couch. He sat down next to her and put his arm over her shoulder and pulled her so she was leaning on him.

“I know how much this hurts,” he said. “Something is missing, you feel like everything from this area,” he place a hand just under her collar bone, near her heart, but was careful not to accidentally grope her, “is gone and you feel incomplete. I know what that’s like. I wish I could take the pain from you so you don’t have to deal with it, I really do,” he rested his chin on the top of her head. “You’re strong. You will get through this. You’ll be even stronger when it’s over. That’s my promise to you.”

_____ wrapped her arms around him and hugged him awkwardly, burying her head in his shoulder. “You know, I’m kind of embarrassed,” she said, her voice muffled in his jacket.

“Why?”

“You’re seeing me like this, ugly crying, being the worst version of myself. Not even he’s seen me like this. I don’t even know if he cares,” she said.

He smoothed out her hair. “I don’t mind. Honestly, I’m actually honored that I’m here to help you, that you trust me enough to see you like this,” he said. “No one can see me in my darkest moments, so getting to see other people and help them through theirs, especially yours, it makes me feel honored.”

She squeezed him a bit and then let go, leaning back and sitting up on her own. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and slipped it into his. “Go get your things.”

“You sure you trust me with your phone?”

She nodded. “If I have it, I’ll just end up torturing myself,” she said and smiled weakly at him.

He nodded and stood up. “All right, make yourself comfortable. I shouldn’t be too long,” he said. “If you really want, you can explore a bit.”

“All right, thank you Seven.”

“You seriously need to stop thanking me,” he joked and then walked out of the living room towards his room.

When he was gone, _____ sat there for just a moment longer before she started feeling restless. Her fingers itched to open up her phone and scroll through social media or something, but she also knew that when she saw him posting things like nothing was wrong, she wouldn’t be able to handle it. Especially if it was things about relationships and negative things that her paranoid mind immediately took as a passive aggressive jab at her. So instead, she stood up and started walking around. His home was a mess. She wasn’t exactly the tidiest person in the world either, but Seven’s home looked like a tornado blew through followed by a category 5 hurricane. Empty cans of Dr. Pepper were littered on the floor as well as bags of Honey Buddha Chips.

Automatically she started to gather all of the garbage and put it all in one place before she realized that she would need some garbage bags. One for recycling and one for just straight up garbage. She looked through his cabinets in the kitchen until she found a box of trash bags. She grabbed two and then started gathering up the soda cans in one bag and empty chip bags in the other. That’s how Seven found her when he returned with a duffle bag with what she assumed to be his clothes, and an over the shoulder computer bag with his most important computer gear for his work.

“You know, when I said explore the house, I didn’t exactly mean clean it,” he said, his voice sounding particularly teasing.

_____ looked over her shoulder at him as she threw in the last Dr. Pepper can she could see in it. “I was getting restless. And I didn’t want to accidentally go somewhere you didn’t want me too.”

Seven put his bags on the couch and walked over to her, taking the trash bags out of her hands and tying them off for her. “Well, I guess I should say thank you to you for doing a little cleaning and not snooping around,” he said and bumped her lightly with his shoulder. “But you really didn’t have to. Ms. Vanderwood would have taken care of it.”

_____ shrugged. “It gave me something to do. And I was happy to help. It kept me distracted enough.”

“Then maybe I should hire you as my maid instead~” he joked.

_____ couldn’t help but giggle at that, just a short burst, but a laugh nonetheless. Seven’s grin widened and bumped her again before he brought the trash bags over towards the door to the garage.

“Now that’s something I was trying to get out of you all day,” he said.

“Well, then you must be a master, God Seven. Making depressed women laugh despite themselves,” she joked lightly.

“It’s just the first step of my 7 step process,” he said and then grabbed his bags. “Come on, let’s grab some soda and chips and then head back to your apartment.”

_____ nodded and then followed him out of his home and to his car.

| _How long have you been staring at the sky?_ |


	3. Pillow Fights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seven tries to cheer her up with a pillow fight, but it gets a little too out of hand.

_____ walked opened the door to her apartment, carrying Seven’s duffel bag while he had the box of chips, the soda, and his computer. She wanted to help him somehow so he wouldn’t have to make more than one trip, but he didn’t trust anyone with his laptop and he said that the boxes of junk food were too heavy and he couldn’t make her carry those, so that left her with his bag of clothes, which was surprisingly heavy. It made her wonder how long he was planning to stay.

Once they were inside, she set the duffel bag next to the couch. “You can set up your computer things on the dining room table, if you need,” she offered. “I’ll set up the couch bed.”

Seven looked at the time. “It’s only 5PM,” he said. “Why set up the bed now?”

“So you don’t have to do it when you’re tired? There are no sheets on it or pillows.” She shrugged and walked over to her linens closet. “I’ll make dinner afterwards, too.”

Seven frowned a bit but shrugged. He knew what she was trying to do. She was trying to make herself busy so she didn’t have time to think. It was smart but if she took care of everything all at once then she would only be left with down time. He put his computer bag on the table and started to set everything up so he could take care of his work when he would need. When _____ returned with the sheets and started pulling off couch cushions, he spoke up.

“When you start cooking, I’ll help you. What do you plan on making?” he asked and walked over to help her with the couch.

“I was thinking something my dad taught me to make,” she said. “Nachos. They’re my favorite and I can’t not eat them, so I thought it would be a good idea.”

Seven smiled a bit. At least she was taking care to try to eat at least. When all of the cushions were off the couch, he helped her pull out the bed. “Just tell me what you need me to do and I’ll help,” he offered.

She looked at him and smiled a bit, handing him a corner of the sheet. “Thank you,” she said. “You can grate the cheese then.”

Seven nodded and as he put the ends of the sheet over the corners of the mattress a weird feeling settled over him. Everything they were talking about, what they were doing, it was so… _domestic_. And, honestly, he really _liked_ it. The idea of making dinner together, talking about simple things, made him feel warm. But it was also rather awkward. He didn’t want to bring up _____’s ex unnecessarily and cause her to have a panic attack, but at the same time he could feel that there were still things that she wanted to say about it. He didn’t want to push her to talk to him. Not that she wasn’t already, but…

It was like taking Xanax or something. She was talking to him when she started to panic to calm down, but not talking until it all became too much. It wasn’t good, but it also wasn’t bad either. He didn’t mind being used as an antidepressant for now. He just hoped that he would find a way to help her heal and be okay in the long term. He hoped that he could find a way to get her to start talking and get everything out before she shattered more than she already has. He sighed before he could stop himself and _____ looked up at him.

“Is everything okay?” she asked and tilted her head to the side.

“Huh?” he looked at her. “Yeah, I’m fine,” he smiled. “You don’t need to worry about me. You should worry more about yoursel—” he was interrupted when he got a face full of pillow.

“Stop right there, Luciel,” she said. “I can worry about who I want to wor—”

The pillow bounced off her face and landed harmlessly on the bed. _____ stood there silent for a moment before her shocked face turned into one of challenge. She grabbed a pillow just as Seven lunged for the one that landed on the pullout couch.

“Oh you are so _on_!” she shouted and jumped up on the bed.

Seven smirked and stayed on the ground. “I’m so going to kick your ass,” he said and lifted up his pillow to block the whack from _____.

She laughed and lifted the pillow to try to hit him again. Seven took the opportunity to take a swing at her legs, causing her to jump back. He did as well and took a moment to take off his glasses so that they wouldn’t accidentally break them. _____ jumped off the bed and landed on the floor before walking up to him, her pillow primed for an attack. Seven circled around away from his glasses and computer and _____ lunged at him. There was a wide grin on her face and Seven was glad that she was enjoying herself.

Their pillow fight encompassed the entire apartment. Seven would flee from her and she would chase after him and then when Seven would get the upper hand, he would chase her. They were laughing so much and so loud that he was sure that her neighbors both upstairs and down would probably call a noise complaint soon, but neither of them could find the ability to care about that. Neither of them could breathe well because they were laughing. They were having too much fun.

Finally Seven cornered _____ in her bedroom, blocking the door so she had nowhere to go. He panted, bursts of laughter escaping as he breathed.

“It’s all over now. I have you cornered!” he said. “You, dastardly villain, will have to atone for your crimes!”

_____ mock gasped. “Me? Villain?” she said, trying to sound innocent, but smirking the whole time. “What would these crimes be?”

“The list goes on, but the main crime,” he said and held his pillow in front of him like he was about to throw it, “is scaring the living daylights out of me. Do you confess?”

“You’ll have to catch me before I confess,” she smirked, a laugh bubbling up.

“I think I’ve got you pretty captured,” he said. “You have nowhere else to go.”

_____ tsked. “Cornered and captured are two different things. Before I confess to my crimes, you first have to have me in custody, Defender of Justice!”

Heat rushed to Seven’s face and he bit his cheeks. Custody, huh? “Be careful what you say, _____,” he said. “You might not get what you expect.”

_____ backed up until her the back of her legs were against her bed. “If you don’t capture me, I’m not going to confess,” she challenged again.

He chuckled. “You asked for it,” he said before he threw his pillow at her.

He lunged along with the pillow and when she was stunned from getting a pillow to the face, he tackled her back onto the bed. He grabbed her arms and pinned them over her head and his legs were on either side of her hips, successfully pinning her down. The pillows were on the ground by her feet. _____ looked up at him and felt heat rise to her face as she looked at Seven.

He looked pretty attractive without his glasses. He looked better with them on, but she could certainly get used to the sight of him not wearing them. His eyes were like pools of liquid gold. Spots of red stained his cheeks and his hair fell into his face. He was grinning down at her, but she could hear his breathing pick up. Her own breathing wasn’t exactly normal either. This was the closest she’s ever been to Seven. A small part of her felt comfortable regardless of the fact that they were alone in her apartment, in her room, him on top of her, holding her down… and there was another part of her that was afraid, scared of the implications.

“Confess,” he said, still keeping up the act. She was thankful for that. Some of the pressure was lifted from her and she smirked up at him.

“I confess,” she said in a soft voice. “I’m really sorry for scaring you so bad. Can you forgive me, oh Defender of Justice and let me go?”

“Hmmm… on one condition,” he said.

“Anything to be set free~”

“Talk to me about whatever you’re feeling whenever you’re feeling it,” he said. “Not in the middle of a panic attack or just before you start hyperventilating. I want to help prevent those things.”

_____ was silent for a moment, letting her breathing even out a bit more. “All right. I’ll try,” she said. “It’s just… hard finding a good way to bring it up.”

“You don’t have to worry about that,” he said. “You won’t scare me away if you randomly start talking about your feelings. I told you I’m going to help you. So will you let me?”

_____ nodded slowly. “I’ll let you.”

Seven grinned and bent down to kiss her forehead before getting up off of her. “Good. So dinner?” he said, his back to her as he straightened out his clothes and picked up the pillows.

The heat in her face worsened as she sat up. She coughed a bit and stood up. “Um. Yeah. Dinner.” She walked out of the room.

Seven watched as she left and when she was gone, he smacked his forehead. He shouldn’t have done that. He shouldn’t have tackled her like that and held her down on the bed. But she basically asked for him to do it, too! She knew him and she knew that he would do something like that if challenged. What he really shouldn’t have done, though, was kiss her like that. It was mean to be a simple affectionate gesture of thanks, but he wasn’t sure that’s how she took it. The way she was looking at him though when he had her under him… argh! He needed a cold shower.

He found himself hating her ex for hurting someone so wonderful the way that he did. But still, for now he would remain neutral for her sake and once she started feeling better again and chose whether or not she wanted to be with him again. If she chose to go back to him, he would support her. If she chose to give up on him and move on, well then he would help her do that.  He sighed as he found himself hoping that if she did choose to move on, she would choose to move onto him, regardless of…

He cut off the thought and shook his head. He walked out of her room and walked into the kitchen. He grabbed his glasses quickly from the dining room and put them back on. She was already there starting the nachos. He walked up behind her and leaned against the island in the kitchen.

“So what do you need me to do?” he asked and looked over her shoulder.

She had an opened bag of Tostito’s Scoops chips and a mushed up can of El Paso refried beans in a bowl. She was putting some of the beans in the scoops before arranging them on a baking sheet. The oven was already preheating.

“Grate a block of mild cheddar cheese and when you’re done, you can help me with the beans,” she said.

Seven nodded. “Aye, aye, Captain _____,” he said and saluted.

He opened the fridge and pulled out the cheese. The cheese grater and a paper plate were laid out on the island and he set to work. Once all the cheese was grated and the chips were beaned, _____ instructed Seven to put some cheese on each of the chips while she grabbed a jar of jalapeños. As he put the cheese down, she would put a single sliced jalapeño on top of it. It wasn’t long before they were done and _____ put the tray of nachos in the oven.

“So how did your dad get the idea for something like that?” Seven asked, trying to start up a conversation.

“I honestly have no idea,” she said. “But I’ll be damned if they aren’t good.”

Seven chuckled and hopped up to sit on the counter. She leaned across from him on the island. “I’ll have to wait and see to be the judge of that,” he said and snickered at her.

She smiled back at him. “Well, I hope you like them. They aren’t Honey Buddha Chips, but they’re pretty awesome.”

“If it’s put in front of me and it’s food, I’ll eat it,” he said and chuckled a bit.

“All right, cool,” she said and gave him a small smile.

An awkward silence settled between the both of them. Seven found himself looking everywhere except at her. He drummed his fingers on his leg as his feet kicked a bit. _____ had her head tilted towards the ground, but she was looking at him from the corner of her eye. Seven couldn’t keep looking everywhere but her for very long and the second their eyes met, they both spoke at the same time.

“Seven—”

“_____—”

They stared at each other for a moment and then tried again.

“Go ahead—”

“You first—”

Seven coughed and looked to the side, signaling _____ to start talking with a wave of his hand.

“You first, Seven,” she said.

He looked at her from the corner of his eye before turning his head to look at her properly. He cleared his throat and sighed.

“About before. In your room. I’m um… I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have gone that far,” he said. “I also didn’t mean to kiss you like that either. I just got a little carried away.”

_____ looked at him for a moment, completely silent and Seven started to squirm under her gaze. Not moments later, a grin spread apart her face. “Aw, are you embarrassed?” she said. “God Seven, Defender of Justice, is embarrassed?”

“A little, yeah?”

_____ giggled a bit. “You don’t need to apologize. I had fun. And honestly, you did exactly what I was expecting you to do,” she smiled at him and reached up to ruffle his hair. “You distracted me. So thank you.”

Seven blinked at her but smiled a bit. “I’m here so that I can help you. So if I’m not working, we can do pretty much whatever you want.”

She smiled and nodded her head towards the living room. “Come on. Let’s watch some TV while we’re waiting on the food.”

“Sounds good to me,” Seven said and hopped down from the counter and followed _____ out of the kitchen.


	4. Late Nights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Seven comforts her late at night only for him to have thoughts he shouldn't be having.

 

-_____ entered the chat room-

 **Zen:** _____!!!

 **Zen:** ARE YOU OKAY?!

 **_____:** Seven told you what happened?

 **Jaehee:** He was worried about you, of course he told us.

 **Jaehee:** I don’t think I need to tell you this

 **Jaehee:** but don’t ever think about doing something like that again.

 **Zen:** Yeah! You’re part of our family

 **Zen:** So we would be sad is something happened to you.

 **_____:** I’m sorry guys.

 **_____:** I won’t scare you like that again.

-Yoosung ★ entered that chat-

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** _____!!!!!

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** >:(

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** What do you have to say for yourself?

 **_____:** I’m sorry Yoosung…

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** I want more than an apology. We deserve an explanation.

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** Why didn’t you tell us you were feeling like that?

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** Aren’t we your friends?

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** Can’t you tell us your feelings?

 **_____:** …

 **_____:** I’m sorry. I just…

 **_____:** I didn’t want to burden you guys with my feelings.

 **_____:** I didn’t want to cause any trouble.

 **_____:** and I didn’t mean for it to go that far…

 **_____:** I’m sorry.

 **_____:** I should have told you guys sooner.

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** You’re right. You should have

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** So next time, tell us, okay?

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** we’re here for you.

 **Jaehee:** Yes. We’re your friends. So you can come to us.

 **Jaehee:** It’s a good thing though that Luciel was able to get to you first.

 **Zen:** Speaking of Seven. I thought he would have been here by now to check on you again.

 **_____:** There’s no need.

-707 entered the chat room-

 **707:** BECAUSE I’M RIGHT NEXT TO HER!

 **Zen:** YOU’RE STILL AT HER APARTMENT!?

 **707:** Yes

 **707:** I

 **707:** am~

 **707:** I don’t want to leave her alone.

 **707:** just in case.

 **707:** The Defender of Justice can’t just leave a damsel in distress

 **_____:** Don’t worry Zen.

 **_____:** He’s sleeping on my couch.

 **_____:** I’m actually glad he’s here.

 **707:** I’m

 **707:** her

 **707:** ANTIDEPRESSANT!

 **_____:** I wouldn’t put it like that.

 **Jaehee:** All in one message please. It’s giving me a headache when you talk like that.

 **Zen:** … ____

 **Zen:** If he does anything

 **Zen:** Call me

 **Zen:** And I’ll come right over.

 **_____:** Nothing’s going to happen. I trust Seven.

 **Zen:** All men are wolves, _____!

 **Zen:** Seven is a man!

 **Zen:** Don’t trust him!

 **_____:** Don’t you have to work out about now?

 **Zen:** … shit. I’ll be back.

 **Zen:** Don’t forget to call if something happens!

 **Zen:** or if you just need to talk!

 **Zen:** Bye!

 **_____:** Bye lovely Zen!

-Zen left the chat room-

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** Seriously, _____

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** If you need any of us. We’re a phone call away.

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** So don’t hesitate to call.

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** I don’t know about Jumin, but Zen and I will always answer the phone.

 **Jaehee:** I will as well if Mr. Han isn’t piling on more work.

 **_____:** Speaking of Jumin

 **_____:** I thought I’d see him here as well.

 **Jaehee:** He’s at dinner with Mr. Chairman.

 **Jaehee:** I will inform him when he gets back that you’re okay and that Luciel is with you.

 **Jaehee:** He will be rather disappointed, though.

 **Jaehee:** I heard him mention that he was going to go over with Elizabeth the 3rd

 **Jaehee:** but if Luciel is there, then he won’t

 **707:** Aw~ I want to see Elly!

 **_____:** Haha. It’s fine. I wouldn’t mind some kitten therapy, but Jumin doesn’t need to go to the trouble.

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** Oh! My guildmaster just called.

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** Rare monster! I gotta go!         

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** Bye!

-Yoosung ★ left the chat room-

 **707:** I’ll head out too

 **707:** Don’t stay on too long, _____

 **707:** You need sleep, too.

 **_____:** all right.

-707 left the chat room-

 **Jaehee:** Well…

 **Jaehee:** back to what I was saying

 **Jaehee:** Mr. Han knows that he doesn’t need to go through the trouble.

 **Jaehee:** he thinks of you as family, like we all do, so it was his way of trying to comfort you.

 **_____:** Well, that’s sweet of him.

 **_____:** Tell him I said thank you for the thought when you see him

 **_____:** I should go now, too.

 **_____:** Seven is looking at me expectantly.

 **Jaehee:** Are you just saying that to freak Zen out a bit?

 **_____:** Maybe.

 **Jaehee:** haha.

 **Jaehee:** Well, have a good night.

 **_____:** Good night, Jaehee

-_____ left the chat room-

_____ sighed as she locked her phone and put it down. She was sitting on the pullout couch, cross legged while Seven was lying down with his hands behind his head. The TV was turned on. Seven turned his head to look at her.

“You okay?”

_____ shrugged. “I feel terrible.”

“Why?”

“I scared them. Jumin was even going to being Elizabeth the 3rd over,” she said.

“Well, what did you expect to happen?” Seven asked and sat up. “The world to just move one when you died? I told you before that a lot of people would be hurt and sad if you disappeared. We all think of you as family, so of course everyone would be upset to hear about what happened.”

_____ sighed again and bowed her head. “Did you really have to tell them?”

“It was before I came over. I went on to the chat room, hoping you were there so I could talk to you because you weren’t answering my texts,” Seven explained. “Zen and Yoosung were on and well, they could see how freaked I was. I had to go back on after I stopped you to let them know everything was okay.”

_____ didn’t say anything and Seven put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her into him. She rested her head on his shoulder and sighed. They sat like that for a while before Seven spoke again.

“You don’t need to feel bad. Especially about how you feel. I’m sure Zen has some sort of idea how it feels to be on the receiving end of a breakup, especially if the relationship was seemingly perfect and the other party had no discernable reason,” Seven explained and rested his chin on _____’s head. “Yoosung… well, he’s been in a dark place since Rika. Jaehee has probably experienced something similar as well. I can’t really speak for Jumin. So you don’t need to apologize for how you feel. We all understand. Yes we were scared, but we’re relieved that you’re still here and with us and we want to help you however we can.”

_____ nodded. “I guess so. Still… I was only thinking of myself earlier.”

“In a time like this, thinking about yourself is exactly what you should be doing. Self-care after a breakup like this is the most important thing you could be doing,” he said. “So worry about yourself, okay?”

_____ snorted. “You know me. I worry about everyone before myself. I would drag my body and mind through shit if it meant I helped someone I care about. I can’t worry about myself.”

“I know, but you need to learn that sometimes you can worry about yourself more than others,” he said. “And until you learn that, I’ll worry about you, okay?”

“All right, thank you, Luciel.”

“You don’t need to thank me,” he said. “You should probably go to bed. It’s late. I’ll see you in the morning.”

_____ nodded and left Seven’s arms and crawled off the bed. “See you in the morning,” she said and walked into her room.

Seven watched as she disappeared into her room and pulled off his shirt before pulling the covers over him. He decided that he should at least have a normal sleep schedule while he was staying here, especially if he was acting as her antidepressant.

*     *     *

_“Come on, let’s go here?”_

_“All right, wait up for me, babe!”_

______ smiled back at her boyfriend, his hair falling over his face as he pushed up his sunglasses. “I love you.”_

_“I love you, too”_

_“Always.”_

_“Forever.”_

*     *     *

_____ bolted up out of bed and felt around next to her. It was empty. A stabbing pain settled in her chest next to her heart. She gasped and clutched at her heart, doubling over, trying to stop the tears from falling from her eyes. She bit her lip to stop herself from crying out. She didn’t want to wake Seven, but she realized that she didn’t think she would have a choice. She couldn’t handle this alone and she didn’t think she would be able to fall back to sleep. Not with the dreams she was having.

She took in a shaky breath and got out of bed and walked into the living room. Seven was sound asleep on the bed and she stared at him, having a hard time bringing herself to wake him. He was sprawled out on the mattress. The blanket was tangled around his feet legs, leaving his chest completely exposed. For someone who sat around on the computer all day, he was pretty built. She guessed that his work with that intelligence agency required a certain amount of physical fitness. She swallowed and tried to gather the nerved to wake him.

“Seven?” she whispered.

He didn’t stir.

She gulped and reached out and shook his arm a bit. “Seven,” she said a little bit more urgently.

He still didn’t move.

She sighed and shook his shoulder this time. “Luciel,” she said in a louder voice.

He blinked blearily and yawned. He looked up and saw _____ standing on the side of the bed next to him. He sat up a bit and rubbed his eyes, reaching for his glasses so he could look at her properly.

“What time is it?” he asked after a yawn.

_____ looked at the cable box. “2:41,” she answered.

He only nodded and held out his arms for her. She wordlessly crawled onto the bed and leaned into him. He decided that he wasn’t very comfortable, leaning over like that, so he just pulled her into his lap.

“Nightmare?” he asked.

She shook her head. “That’s the thing. It was a really good dream the problem was…”

“You woke up and it wasn’t real.”

She nodded and buried her head in his chest. “It felt so real. Reality feels like a nightmare and my dreams feel reality. I feel like I’m losing my sanity.”

He smoothed out her hair and held her close to him. “It’s not something abnormal,” he said. “It’s part of the healing process. Eventually everything will come into focus.”

“When will that be?” she asked. “I don’t want to feel like this anymore. I don’t want to feel like I’m slowly breaking apart at the seams or losing my grip on reality.”

“I know. I told you before that if I could take away your pain, I would,” Seven said and started to rock her back and forth, talking in a more soothing voice. “But since I can’t, the most I can do is help you through it, be here for you when it gets too much.”

“You don’t know how much that means to me,” _____ said, sleepily. “Um… would you mind if I slept out here with you for the night? In case I have another…” she yawned, “dream?”

Seven blinked, suddenly wide awake now. He coughed. “Um. Yeah. Sure. Whatever helps,” he said.

“Thank you, Luciel,” she said.

He nodded and then laid her down on the bed, giving up one of his pillows. “Don’t mention it,” he said.

He took off his glasses and laid down as well, on the other side of the bed. She looked at him, sleepily and smiled. He felt heat rush to his face but he managed a small smile back.

“Night,” she said.

“Sleep tight,” he replied.

She closed her eyes and was out almost instantly. Seven, on the other hand, had a difficult time falling back to sleep. He chose to sleep on the couch because he didn’t think something like this would happen. Not that he minded at all, it was just that… he felt hot. He’d need another cold shower. Damn it. Taking care of her while also keeping his distance was going to be harder then he thought.

He stared at her face. She looked so peaceful in her sleep. He wondered if he could find a way to make her look that peaceful when she was awake. Maybe a time machine. Then he could stop some things from happening and she would be happy again. She always looked best when she was smiling. He reached up and brushed the backs of his fingers across her cheek softly. She smiled in her sleep and Seven immediately rolled over so his back was to her, his face completely red and his heart beating a mile a minute.

Damn it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To those of you who commented and said that this story is helping you through your own problems... I'm really glad that this is helping more then just me and I hope that it continues to help you through all of your own troubles. I hope everything works out for all of us.


	5. Kitty Therapy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Seven gets her a cat to try to help her when he's busy with work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AAAAHHHHHH I NEED A NAME FOR A CAT! IF ANYONE HAS A GOOD NAME LEMME KNOW! PLEASE!
> 
> I really don't know how to name cats. I just know what I'll be naming my future cat and well... naming a cat Luciel after Seven in a fic about Seven... well... yeah. You see my dilemma. 
> 
> Also I know this chapter is a little shorter then the others... Oh well.

Seven woke up with his arms around something warm, slightly squishy and strangely human feeling. He yawned and blinked open his eyes and looked to see what he was holding. _____ looked up at him (e/c) eyes meeting his golden ones. Her face was red, but she was smiling up at him. He found himself smiling back at her before he realized something important.

“Holy—” he quickly let go of her and jerked back, only to fall off the bed.

_____ got on her hands and knees and crawled over to the edge, looking over at him. “Morning,” she said, trying to suppress a giggle, as he reached up to get his glasses.

“Why didn’t you wake me?” he asked.

“You looked so peaceful and I felt bad for waking you up in the middle of the night,” she said and reached down.

He took her hand and sat up, rubbing the back of his head. “You could have woken me,” he sighed.

“Sorry,” she said and sat down normally. “If there’s a next time, I’ll wake you up. Sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”

Seven sighed and sat on the bed next to her. “I’m not angry and I wasn’t… uncomfortable,” he said and put a hand on her back gently. “It… I just… I don’t want to overstep my boundaries while you’re healing,” he explained. “I don’t want to stunt your healing by accidentally putting ideas in your head.”

She nodded and leaned against him. “I know what you mean, Seven,” she said. “Don’t worry. I’m not exactly thinking about jumping back into the dating scene right now, anyway,” she smirked up at him. “Much less with you. You’re like a brother.”

 _Ouch_. He chuckled a bit and gave her a smile that didn’t exactly meet his eyes. “Yeah, and you’re like a sister,” he nudged her head with his chin lightly before he stood up and grabbed a shirt, slipping it on. “So breakfast? You need to eat.”

_____ nodded. “Yeah. Breakfast is probably a good idea.” She got up and walked into the kitchen and Seven followed behind her. “I know for a fact that we have poptarts and waffles. I haven’t gone to the store recently so… that’s all I got.”

“Poptarts it is, then,” Seven said.

_____ handed him a box of strawberry poptarts and she grabbed a couple Eggo waffles and put them in the toaster. “I’ll probably make a list and head to the store today while you’re working. So if there’s anything you want me to pick up, write it down.”

There was that domestic feeling again. And he could still feel the warmth from her body on his. God damn it. “All right. When do you plan on going then?”

“Around lunch time so we have food to eat,” she said.

“All right. Then I’ll hop in the shower and think of some things to add to the list,” he said and disappeared into the bathroom.

_____ sighed and face palmed. He was acting weird now. He didn’t even finish his poptarts. She shouldn’t have said that thing about him being a brother. People don’t flirt with their brothers, playfully or not. Surely Seven understood that, right? Seven was a friend, a very good friend. Possibly more than that if she had met him first or if she was ready to enter another committed relationship. Right now… she was torn. She wanted to get back with her boyfriend, but another part of her wanted to try again with Seven because Seven hasn’t done anything to betray her trust. But she had so many memories with her old boyfriend that she wanted to get back.

She sighed and ran her hands through his hair. She should talk to Seven about how she felt. But he was in the shower and she wasn’t sure exactly how she would be able to talk to him about this without giving him any wrong ideas. There was that promise she made to him the day before, too. She said she would talk to him about what she was feeling when she was feeling it. So… she sighed. When he got out of the shower, she would talk to him.

For now, she would just work on making a list of things to get while she was at the store. She pulled out a pad of paper and started the list. That’s how Seven found her when he got out of the shower, his hair wet and a towel draped around his shoulders. He was dressed in the clothes he slept in. _____ looked up at him when she saw him.

“Can I talk to you?” she asked.

“Uh oh, this can never be good,” he joked and smiled at her. “Of course, what’s on your mind?”

“About before. What I said,” she said and put down her pencil.

“What about it? You don’t have to explain anything to me,” he said and took the pencil and wrote down a few things of his own on her list. “You think of me as a brother, I know that.”

“That’s… that’s just it,” she said. “You’re not a brother. You know how we talked on the chat. People who think of each other as siblings don’t talk to each other the way we do.”

“What are you saying?” he asked.

“I’m saying that you’re more than a brother and more than just a friend,” she said. “But… I’m not… I can’t…”

Seven smiled softly at her. “I know what you mean. I came here to help you heal, not pressure you into a relationship with me when you just had your heart shattered. I know better. You need to feel comfortable as yourself again before you go out with someone else. So you don’t need to worry about me making any moves on you,” he assured and ruffled her hair. “Not until you’re ready at least.”  

_____ grinned and nudged him lightly. “Thank you, Seven,” she smiled at him.

“Still, you should expect some affection from me. It actually helps, believe it or not,” he said as he gently kissed the side of her head. “And no thanks necessary,” he said and then walked over to where he set up his hacking equipment. “I’m going to get some work done so if you want to go shopping you should probably go now. I won’t be very good company for a while.”

_____ nodded. “All right. I’ll be back in a while.”

“Be safe. Call when you get back and I’ll help you with the grocery bags,” Seven said as he booted up his computer.

“I will,” she said as she walked out of the apartment and down the stairs.

Seven waited for a while after she left before he changed into his clothes and slipped on his shoes. There was something he needed to get while she was gone. Once he was dressed, he pulled on his sweater before he, too, left the apartment.

*     *     *

Seven’s phone started ringing and he picked it up, still typing with one hand. “Hello?”

“I’m back. There are a lot of bags,” she said.

“I’ll be right down,” he said and hung up the phone.

He closed his computer. Didn’t want anything… ahem… typing anything incomprehensible in his code. He walked down the stairs and he saw _____ standing in the back lot by her car. She smiled at him when he came downstairs and handed off an armful of bags.

“You take those, I’ll grab the rest,” she said.

Seven nodded and held the door for her as she grabbed the rest of the bags from the car. When she got inside, the two of them walked to the elevator and waited.

“So how was your shopping trip?” Seven asked.

She shrugged. “Just a shopping trip. I um… I saw him there shopping at the first store, so I um… went somewhere else.”

Seven frowned and walked into the elevator. “I’m sorry. I should have gone with you.”

She shook her head. “It’s not a big deal. I just…” she shrugged again. “It’s still hard.”

“I know. I’m here to try to stop the hurt,” he said as she pushed the button to her floor. “Speak of, I got you something.”

“Huh? What?” she asked.

He snickered. “It’s a surprise. But I’m sure it’ll help.”

She frowned. “If there is some sort of pun set up in my house, I’m going to Zen,” she said.

He chuckled. “No pun is set up in your apartment. You’ll need to be married to me first before I get to that level of stupid. I don’t have enough EXP yet. And you wouldn’t be able to run away so easily then,” he joked.

She found herself laughing at him. “I thought you were already at that level of stupid.”

He gasped, clutching at his heart. “You wound me.” He said and stepped out of the elevator when it reached her floor.

She walked to the door and opened it and he walked inside. She closed it behind her and they put the grocery bags on the counter. “So this surprise?”

Seven smirked. “Let me go find him,” he said.

She blinked. “Um, him?” she asked.

He just snickered and then started looking around the apartment. It was orange, white, and light grey so how hard could it be to find it? _____ started to unpack the groceries as Seven searched and she was nearly done before he came back. He walked back into the kitchen with his hands behind his back.

“All right. Close your eyes,” he said.

“I’m scared, Seven, can’t you just tell me what it is?” she asked.

He shook his head. “Just close your eyes and trust me.”

She sighed but did as he said. He smiled and then brought his hands and her surprise in front of him and held it in his palms. “All right, open them.”

When she opened her eyes, she saw him standing in front of him with his hands out, smiling at her. In his hands she saw the most adorable Calico kitten in his hands. Its eyes were the same color as Seven’s and she seriously thought she was in love. She reached up and took the tiny kitten in her hands, smiling widely.

“Oh my god. Seven! He’s so adorable!” she said and nuzzled the kittens head. “But you didn’t have to do this.”

He shrugged. “I always wanted a cat and you mentioned something about kitten therapy being something you wouldn’t pass up. Since I can’t have a cat at home, I thought I could get you one and we could raise it.”

“Seven…” she said and looked up at him. “I don’t… I don’t know what to say.”

He smiled at her. “You don’t need to thank me,” he said. “Especially because when you are feeling better, I’ll be coming over a lot to come and see him.” He smirked. “So you’ll probably get real sick of me real fast.”

_____ giggled a bit. “I don’t think that’ll happen. But seriously, thank you so much,” she said and walked over to the couch bed.

She sat down on it and put the kitten on the mattress and started playing with him. It mostly consisted of _____ holding her hand out and letting her kitten hang around on her arm and nip at her hand. She giggled, looking at the cat with a smile.

“What should we name him?” she asked.

Seven walked up behind her and looked at the cat. “That’s a tricky question. Ask me again in an hour,” he joked. “I’ll look at cat names and get a list of names I think would fit.”

She rolled her eyes. “No list necessary, _Jumin_. Just one name would be fine,” she said.

“Then I’ll come back with one name,” he said and walked over to his set up. “I have to get this job done so call me when there’s food.”

“Will do!”


	6. Names and Messing with Yoosung

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Seven and _____ mess with Yoosung while trying to name their cat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got a few really good suggestions for cat names, and I really liked them, so I decided to incorporate all of them into this story. But the name that I chose for the cat will be revealed at the end of the chapter.
> 
> I also had a lot of fun with this chapter for reason I'm sure you're going to see.

-_____ entered the chat room-

 **_____:** - _picture of her new cat, asleep on her lap-_

 **_____:** What should I name this little bundle of joy?

 **Zen:** You have one now, too?

 **Zen:** My nose is itching already

 **Zen:** -_-”

 **Jaehee:** aw, it’s actually kind of cute asleep like that.

 **Jaehee:** I didn’t know you got a cat.

 **_____:** Seven got him for me.

 **_____:** He thought the idea Jumin had about kitten therapy was a good idea

 **_____:** and when I said I wouldn’t pass it up

 **_____:** He decided to get me one that we could care for together

 **_____:** Since his maid won’t let him have a cat at his house.

 **Jaehee:** You and Luciel taking care of a cat?

 **Jaehee:** Together?

 **Zen:** Speaking of Seven

 **Zen:** What was that about him giving you an expectant look last night?!

 **Zen:** DID HE DO ANYTHING TO YOU?

 **_____:** …

-707 entered the chat room-

 **707:** Nothing she didn’t want me to do~

 **707:** Right, _____?

 **_____:** Right~

 **Zen:** What did you do?

 **Zen:** Don’t tell me you took advantage of _____ in her weakened emotional state!

 **Zen:** I thought you were a better man then that Seven!

 **_____:** Wasn’t it you that said that all men were wolves, Zen?

 **707:** Don’t let him off the hook just yet _____!

 **707:** I was hoping to mess with him more!

 **_____:** Sorry Seven, but somehow I think that Zen is about to explode on the other side of this chat room. Haha

 **707:** I thought that was the plan?

 **Jaehee:** So you did say that last night just to mess with Zen.

 **Jaehee:** haha.

 **Zen:** You…

 **Zen:** …

 **_____:** I’m sorry for messing with you, lovely Zen~

 **_____:** Anyway, back to my cat

 **_____:** What should we name him?

 **Zen:** Tiger.

 **_____:** Why?

 **Zen:** It’s orange.

 **Zen:** and kind of looks like a little tiger.

 **Jaehee:** I like the name Cosmo.

\- Yoosung ★ entered the chat room-

 **707:** Yoosung!

 **707:** _____ and I had a baby!

 **707:** we’re thinking of baby names.

 **707:** Any ideas?

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** WHAT!?

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** D:

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** SINCE WHEN?!

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** DID YOU CHEAT ON YOUR EX WITH SEVEN _____?!

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** DID HE FIND OUT AND THAT’S WHY HE LEFT YOU!?

 **_____:** Yup

 **_____:** you caught us.

 **707:** We’re very happy.

 **707:** it’s a boy.

 **707:** So how about a name?

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** oh um.

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** uh…

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** Luciel?

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** Then you can call him LJ?

 **_____:** ooohh I like that name.

 **_____:** Yoosung, meet Luciel Jr.

 **_____:** _-picture of her new cat asleep on her lap-_

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** …

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** you guys…

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** You were messing with me.

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** So you really didn’t cheat on your boyfriend with Seven?

 **_____:** No.

 **_____:** and I’m still not sure why he left me

 **_____:** but I’d rather not talk about it…

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** Sorry

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** I’ll drop it

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** But for the cat name

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** Since it’s a cat and not a person

 **707:** You totally fell for it

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** Shut up, Seven.

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** When a person says they’re having a baby

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** my first reaction isn’t

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** “Are you lying to me?”

 **707:** Still fell for it

 **Zen:** Moving on! What is your idea Yoosung?

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** I think you should name him Adam!

 **_____:** Adam?

 **707:** Why Adam?

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** I dunno. I couldn’t think of anything on the spot.

 **Jaehee:** did you go on a name generator?

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** …

 **707:** Yoosung, I think we might have to have a talk.

 **_____:** yeah. Your lack of creativity on the spot like that…

 **707:** It could be the reason why you’ve never had a girlfriend.

 **_____:** We’ll need to fix that.

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** You guys are so mean. ;A;

 **_____:** we’re just teasing you.

 **707:** I wasn’t.

 **_____:** Then why are you grinning like a madman?

 **Zen:** because he is a madman.

-Jumin entered the chat room-

 **Zen:** oh look

 **Zen:** Mista Trust Fund finally showed up.

 **Jumin:** _____

 **Jumin:** are you okay?

 **_____:** ya. Thank you.

 **707:** _____ and I had a baby!

 **Jumin:** Congratulations

 **Jaehee:** …

 **Zen:** …

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** …

 **_____:** …

 **707:** 3

 **707:** 2

 **707:** 1

 **Jumin:** Wait what!?

 **707:** Called it.

 **_____:** Seven got me a cat.

 **_____:** and we were discussing what to name it.

 **Jumin:** if that’s the case

 **Jumin:** Why not Elisabeth the 4th?

 **_____:** the kitten is a male.

 **707:** As much as I love our Elly~

 **707:** I’m not naming this new cat after her

 **Jumin:** her name is Elisabeth the 3rd.

 **Zen:** I’m going to take this as my cue to leave

 **_____:** Wait!

 **Zen:** What?

 **_____:** before Zen leaves.

 **_____:** And Seven and Jumin start arguing about Elisabeth the 3rd.

 **_____:** There’s something I want to say.

 **Jaehee:** Go ahead.

 **_____:** I think we should all hang out sometime soon.

 **_____:** I think it would be fun.

 **_____:** And honestly, I could probably use some time with friends.

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** I think that’s a good idea!

 **Zen:** As long as you leave the cats at home, I’m down for it.

 **Jumin:** Make time in my schedule for that Jaehee.

 **Jaehee:** …

 **_____:** Sorry, Jaehee…

 **_____:** How does this weekend work for everyone?

 **Zen:** all right. I don’t have anything to do all day Saturday.

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** Yeah. Same here. I have nothing going on.

 **Jaehee:** I guess that means I should clear up Saturday’s agenda, then. Thank god there is only a morning meeting.

 **Jaehee:** :)

 **_____:** That’s pretty lucky haha.

 **Zen:** So where do we all want to meet up?

 **Jaehee:** I know a pretty good café we can all hang around at for a while.

 **Jaehee:** I’ll text you guys the address.

 **Jumin:** Sounds like that is all settled, then.

 **Zen:** Cool.

 **Zen:** I should go to that directors meeting now.

 **Zen:** Bye!

-Zen left the chat room-

 **Jaehee:** I should probably leave as well. I have some things I need to work out now.

 **_____:** sorry Jaehee!

 **Jaehee:** It’s not a big deal. Honestly, I’d probably enjoy a day out with everyone.

 **_____:** Cool! Bye~

 **Jaehee:** Yes, bye!

-Jaehee left the chat room-

 **_____:** I’ll go as well and leave the bickering to Seven and Jumin.

 **707:** aw, don’t leave!

 **_____:** I’m sitting right next to you.

 **Jumin:** So he did in fact stay the night?

 **_____:** yeah. He slept on my couch.

 **Jumin:** Well, at least you aren’t alone.

 **Jumin:** If you need anything

 **Jumin:** I wouldn’t mind lending an ear from time to time.

 **_____:** Thank you Jumin.

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** I should probably go as well. I don’t want to be late for class!

 **_____:** Bye Yoosung!

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** Bye!

\- Yoosung ★left the chat room-

 **_____:** I’ll get going now too

 **_____:** Bye, Jumin!

 **Jumin:** Yes, goodbye

-_____ left the chat room-

_____ looked up at Seven who was grinning madly at her. She rolled her eyes at him. “Please tell me you’re not making him go crazy.”

“Nah. I just left something in the chat for Zen to see later,” he said. “I think he’ll explode just reading it.”

“Oh god. What did you say?”

“I may or may not have mentioned that you had a nightmare and I had to comfort you in the middle of the night,” he joked.

_____ tried to suppress a smile as she whacked Seven on his arm. “Seriously?” she said, though her grin and giggle didn’t quite convey anger. “When we all hang out, he’s going to try and kill you!”

“I’d like to see him try,” Seven laughed.

She just rolled her eyes. “The names they gave for our cat, though,” she said. “What do you think?”

“Subtle,” Seven joked. “I’m not much of a fan. I was thinking something that would fit the cat, not some random name.”

“Well, what do you think would fit him?” she asked.

Seven plucked the cat from her lap and looked him over. “Well… how would you explain my eyes?” he asked and held the cat near his face.

Two sets of golden eyes stared at her and she thought a moment. “Hmm… well you do have a point that your eyes are similar. But your eyes are more gold. I think the cat’s eyes are more… honey colored.”

“Then that’s what we should name him!” Seven said. “Honey!”

_____ looked between Seven and the kitten before she shrugged. “All right. Honey it is.”

Seven smiled and put the kitten back in _____’s lap. “Well, at least the naming is out of the way,” he laughed and looked at the time. “I think we should think about lunch…”

“And here I thought you were filling up on chips,” she said and motioned to the empty bags of chips littered around Seven’s set up.

“I always have room for more food!”

_____ rolled her eyes. “All right. Did you happen to get food for Honey?” she asked.

“And a litter box, and litter, and some toys, and a food bowl,” Seven ticked off what he got on his fingers. “Don’t think I got you a cat and not everything that goes with one.”

“Just making sure,” she said and scooped up Honey and walked into the kitchen. “What do you want to eat?”

“Anything is good with me!” Seven called to her as he started typing away on his computer again.

“All right, then I’ll surprise you!” she said and then looked at Honey in her hands. “Think we should make him something totally disgusting?”

Honey blinked at _____ and simply mewed before starting to attack her thumb with tiny little kitten nips.

“I thought so, too,” she joked and then set Honey down on the floor.

She laid out food for him first in a bowl. Not much, since Honey is still a kitten after all, before she looked at the new food that she bought. Since it was only lunch, she didn’t think she needed to go all out. Instead, she grabbed the box of Pizza Rolls she bought and just put a bunch on a plate before microwaving them. As she watched the microwave heat the food and kept an eye on Honey, who was eating still, a weird feeling of anxiety washed over her. She couldn’t really explain it, why she was feeling that way all of a sudden and what was making her feel that way.

Honey meowed and crawled over her feet. She automatically reached down and picked him up just as the timer for the microwave finished. She pulled out the Pizza Rolls and then walked over to the dining room table, putting them on the table near Seven’s set up. She sat down on the chair and put Honey on her lap before she started to absentmindedly pick at the food.

Seven noticed that something was wrong almost immediately. He looked up from his computer and looked at her. “What’s wrong?”

_____ shrugged. “I have no idea. I just feel… anxious,” she confessed.

He scooted his chair over so she was sitting next to her and put his arm over her shoulders, pulling her into him. He didn’t say anything, just held her. She leaned her head against his shoulder and Honey meowed, yawning and stretched. She started to pet him and between Honey and Seven, her feeling started to fade away. She lifted her head and gently pecked Seven’s cheek.

“Feel better now?” he asked.

She nodded. “Yeah, thank you,” she said and picked up a Pizza Roll. “Do you think, in a little bit, we could go for a walk?”

He smiled at her. “Of course.”

“Cool,” she stood up, scooping up Honey. “I’ll probably take a nap until then. Wake me up when you’ve got enough work done to justify a break.”

“All right, Captain _____!” he said and saluted.

She giggled lightly before she walked over to the pullout couch and laid down, too lazy to bother going to her room. She put Honey down next to her and she curled up under the covers. The sheets still smelled like Seven. It was strange, but it was comforting. She smiled slightly as she allowed herself to drift off.


	7. Blackmail, Serious Talk, and Cooking Attempts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Seven takes a picture of _____ cuddling with Honey, Yoosung tries to get Seven to talk seriously about _____, and Seven tries to cook. Seven's past starts to crop up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so tempted to add an accidental kiss or intimate moments between the two of them....................................................

Seven stood over _____’s sleeping form on the bed. He already thought she was probably the cutest thing in the world, so how the hell could she look even cuter right now? She was lying on the bed and Honey was curled up right next to her face. Honey woke up as Seven neared and was looking up at him curiously. He couldn’t help himself. He pulled out his phone and took a picture. It was just… how could he not? He knew everyone on the chat would absolutely love to see something like this, the only exception being probably Zen. He snickered and logged onto the messenger, hoping someone was there.

-707 entered the chat room-

 **707:** Yoosung! You’re here!

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** What’s up?

 **707:** Wanna see something cute?

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** ???

 **707:** _-picture of _____ and Honey sleeping on the couch-_

 **707:** She’s probably going to kill me for taking this

 **707:** But I couldn’t help myself.

 **707:** They

 **707:** are

 **707:** just

 **707:** so

 **707:** CUTE!!

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** Awwww.

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** They too look really cute together.

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** Oh yeah

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** Since you’re here

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** Seven

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** I have something to ask you

 **707:** what’s up?

 **707:** Want to know if I have any cheat codes for LOLOL?

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** Nah, that’s not it.

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** It’s about _____

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** is she really okay?

 **707:** …

 **707:** I can tell she’s still in pain.

 **707:** but I’m not going to force her to move on or open up unless she wants.

 **707:** that would only hurt her more.

 **707:** I’m doing what I can to help ease the pain.

 **707:** She took a nap and told me to wake her up when I could justify a break from work so we could go on a walk

 **707:** but I can’t bring myself to wake her up yet.

 **707:** she didn’t sleep well last night.

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** All right.

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** You’re not doing anything… to take advantage of her, right?

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** We all know how you feel about her.

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** So we’re just worried about whether it’s a good idea if one of us took your place at her apartment.

 **707:** What are you talking about?

 **707:** Even if I had feelings for her

 **707:** I know better than to advance on her now.

 **707:** I’m no rebound.

 **707:** I don’t want to hurt her, either.

 **707:** Which is what would happen if one of us had feelings for the other.

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** What do you mean if you had feelings for her?

 **707:** Exactly what I said.

 **707:** I’m not going to admit to things that won’t lead to anything anyway.

 **707:** Why are we getting serious all of a sudden?

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** We’re just worried about her.

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** And you.

 **707:** Why me?

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** You’ve been acting a little weird lately.

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** Jaehee mentioned it earlier

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** She said that you seem to relate to _____’s pain a lot.

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** Like you feel the same thing she is.

 **Yoosung** **★** **:** So we’re a little worried.

 **707:** I’m fine. I’m just very empathetic?

 **707:** I gotta go

 **707:** I should wake _____ up now

 **707:** Laterz~

-707 left the chat room-

Seven sighed as he locked his phone and slipped it in his pocket. Yoosung and Jaehee weren’t wrong that he was feeling what _____ was feeling. He felt it before, a long time ago, but it still felt fresh some days. He ran his hand through his hair. He shouldn’t be worried about him right now. He should be focused on _____, but what Yoosung asked him, about whether or not he would take advantage of her and how he asked if he had feelings for her. He’d be lying if he didn’t feel something, but he’d also be lying if he thought they could actually be together when she healed. He’d like to, maybe, possibly, but with his work and what he was, he didn’t see it happening.

He reached down and shook _____’s shoulder gently. “Hey, wake up. I’m done with work for the day.”

_____ groaned and turned her head towards him, but didn’t open her eyes. “Five more minutes, babe…”

 _She’s dreaming…_ he thought. He shook her again. “_____. It’s me, Seven. Wakey, wakey. I thought you wanted to go for a walk.”

“Mmmm?” she reached up and grabbed at his arm. “Lay with me a while.”

He started to feel warm again. Damn it. Why was she able to do this to him? Part of him wondered if she was even actually asleep. “_____, seriously, wake up. Naptime is over,” he said and slipped his hand under her back and sat her up.

She rubbed her eyes and blinked a few times. Seven mentally counted down in his head as he waited for the realization to start to hit her. When it did, her face turned the color of his hair and she jerked back. “Oh god… Seven… I’m so sorry!”

Seven just smiled at her. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll consider it payback.”

“Payback for what?”

Seven held up a finger before he pulled out his phone and opened up the picture he took of her when she was sleeping with Honey. “My finger may have slipped just a little bit,” he joked and showed her the phone.

She took it in her hands and stared at the picture before her face started turning redder. “It’s a cute picture of Honey,” she said. “You didn’t… send this to anyone?”

“Oh, no one in particular. Just the RFA messenger,” he said. “So of course, everyone who matters saw it.”

“SEVEN!” she said and swung at him.

He caught her arm and grinned at her. “I told you my finger slipped,” he said. “And you did call me _babe_ and asked me to lay down with you~”

Seven was sure she was going to explode and she crossed her arms, pouting, but the effect was lost due to how red her face was. “We do not speak of this,” she said.

“I’m just teasing you,” he said. “Besides, I think it’s a rather cute picture of the two of you.” He plucked his phone back and stepped back from the pullout couch. “Ready to go on a walk?”

She nodded. “Yeah. I just need to call a vet, though while we’re out.”

He tilted his head to the side. “How come?”

“Honey needs to get shots and papers and I need to do this and that to register him as my pet,” she said. “So I’ll take him to the vet I used to work at because I know the doctors there. I just need to call for an appointment.”

“All right, I didn’t actually think about that,” he said and shrugged.

“Course not,” she said and nudged him lightly. She reached down and scratched Honey’s head. “We’ll be back in a little bit, kitten.”

Seven smiled slightly and followed her out of the apartment.

 

“So the appointment is for Friday at 12:30,” _____ said as they walked back into the apartment.

“So, tomorrow?” Seven said.

She nodded. “Yeah. Would you um… mind coming with me?” she said.

He shook his head and ruffled her hair. “Not at all,” he said and smiled at her.

“Thank you,” she smiled back at him and walked over to the couch. Honey was curled up in the corner on one of the pillows. “Do you have more work to do?”

He shrugged. “A bit, but I’m almost done. I can put it off until tonight when you’re sleeping,” he answered. “Any ideas what you want for dinner?”

She raised an eyebrow at him. “We have hours before we need to think about eating again.”

“Well, if I’m going to cook, it would be best for me to start now so that if I fuck up, I can try again,” Seven smirked.

_____ looked blankly at him. “Ah, no. I’d sooner die before I let you cook in my kitchen.”

“Then I guess you better get to croaking~” he joked and practically skipped into the kitchen.

_____ jumped up and ran after him. She caught up with him just as he was reaching to grab a pan.

“I think I’ll heat up some Honey Buddha Chips again,” he mused to himself, grinning like an idiot. “I haven’t tried it in a pan yet. I wonder what it’ll be like~”

“Oh no you don’t!” she said and grabbed onto his arm.

Unfortunately for _____ he was stronger than her. He looked at her, scooped her up with his other arm, and put the pan down on the stove. “Would you be a dear and get me a bag of chips, _honey_ ,” he said, laughing.

She found herself grinning at the ridiculousness of it all. “Get it yourself. I think I’m a little tied up here,” she said. “I told you you’re not cooking!”

“Try and stop me~”

“Don’t make me call Zen!” she said and wrestled herself out of his arms.

“Oh no! Not him!” he cried dramatically.

She hopped up on his back, wrapping her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck in an attempt to try to stop him from moving as easily. It didn’t exactly work in her favor. “I’ll do it. Don’t test me~”

He walked out of the kitchen and over to where he had left the box of chips. He grabbed a bag. “I think I’m testing you~”

“You’re funeral!” she said and pulled out her phone, pressing Zen’s icon. She put the phone to her ear.

Seven walked back into the kitchen and opened up the bag of chips before putting a few of them on the pan. “You might want to hurry it up before something bad happens~”

Just as she started to slip off him, only holding onto him with one hand, Zen answered the phone and Seven put his hands under her legs to keep her from falling.

“Hello?”

“Zen! Help! It’s a travesty!” _____ shouted, trying hard to sound like she was in distress, but it was hard to hide the laugh bubbling up.

“What happened?! Is everything okay?!” he said, starting to sound frantic. Obviously he thought her laughs were actually a sign of distress

“I need your help!”

“I’ll be right over!” he said just before he hung up the phone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh god. What if Zen walked in on an accidental kiss between MC and Seven? O.o
> 
> I also apologize, I'm starting to have waaaaaaayyyy too much fun writing some of these chapters. I just... Seven is a huge fucking dork and I just... I love him so much and we all probably need some dorky Seven fluff in the middle of all this angst.


	8. Accidents Happen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get steamy before they are interrupted...

She locked her phone and put it on the counter, trying very, very hard not to laugh too loudly in Seven’s ear. Seven looked at her as he let go of one of her legs and reached to turn on the stove.

“You know, when he gets here, he’s going to freak if you’re still on my back,” he said.

_____ lunged over his shoulder and grabbed the handle of the pan. “He already thinks you’re doing something untoward to me,” she laughed and then hopped off his back.

“Hey! Give that back!” he shouted.

_____ ran out of the kitchen with the pan of chips, being mindful not to spill them all over her floor. “You’ll have to catch me first!”

“Careful what you wish for!” he said and chased after her.

She shrieked with laughter and ran towards the couch. He followed her and they ran circles around it before _____ jumped up on the edge and held the pan high above her head. She grinned down at him.

“You really think that’s going to stop me?” Seven said just before he tackled her back on the bed.

She landed on her back, her head landing safely on the pillows. The pan flipped and she lost the chips on the floor but she kept ahold of the handle. Seven landed on top of her, his arms around her waist. He looked down at her, a ghost of the smile on his face from laughing, and their eyes met. Her breath caught in her throat and she just stared at him. She was hyper aware of him on her. Every nerve was on fire and it was nearly maddening. She thought this felt good. She liked the feeling of having him on top of her like this, his weight comforting to her.

Seven’s brain was absolute mush. His hands itched to feel every part of her and he was glad that they were between her and the bed because it would take extra effort to move them. He started to lean in, all thoughts of restraint flying out of his mind. She didn’t seem to mind that his face was nearing hers, and if anything, she was almost sort of welcoming it. Her eyes fluttered closed, she tilted her head ever so slightly, and just as his lips touched hers, and they were gone, completely lost in the sensation. She let go of the pan and wrapped her arms around his neck. One of his hands moved to her cheek and he rolled over onto his side, taking her with him.

Her fingers tangled in his hair and she pressed herself closer to him. His other hand made its way lower than where it was and he pulled her even closer to him. He wanted everything he could get, the dam broke on his restraint and, as long as she was willing, he would do what he could. His hand on her cheek moved to the back of her head and he grabbed a fist full of her hair before he tilted her head back. His mouth moved from hers and down her neck and he smiled at the cute little sound she made. He was about to move back to her lips, feel her more, take everything in, when the door was thrown open.

They jerked apart quickly, faces red with dark blushes and they looked up to see Zen standing in the doorway. His eyes widened to saucers and he stared at the two of them. _____ coughed and stood up, grabbing the pan and started to pick up the chips, not looking at Seven or Zen. Seven sat up and crossed his, looking up at the other man. He grinned sheepishly.

“Heya, Zen, fancy seeing you here,” he said, the awkward atmosphere taking its toll on his ability to play things off.

Zen let go of the door and let it close behind him and he looked between Seven and _____ who was awkwardly picking up chips and putting them back in the pan. “I’ll go make some tea,” she said and then disappeared into the kitchen.

“Seven,” Zen said, sounding a lot calmer then he looked and started walking towards him.

Seven raised an eyebrow and tilted his head to the side. “What?”

Zen reached out and grabbed Seven by the collar of his shirt and nearly lifted him off the ground. “What. Are. You. Doing?” he said, emphasizing every word as he glared.  

Seven’s curious look turned cold as he frowned. “You wouldn’t be ready to believe me even if I did tell you the truth,” he said and grabbed Zen’s wrist, successfully detaching Zen’s hand from his shirt.

“Try me,” Zen said and straightened up, crossing his arms.

“_____ and I went out for a walk, when we got back, I was making jokes about making dinner. She tried to stop me, one thing led to another, she called you. We were having a good laugh and well, things just got a little too carried away,” Seven said and shrugged. “It was harmless.”

Zen snorted. “There is nothing harmless about making out with a broken woman.”

“I am not broken,” _____ said, standing in the doorway to the kitchen with a tray of tea cups and a pot. “Zen, while I appreciate your protectiveness, whether or not it’s a little unwarranted, what happened just now is between Seven and I. It was an accident. I’m sorry you had to walk in on it.”

Seven’s face darkened ever so slightly, but he looked at Zen. “She does have a point you know.”

Zen frowned but sighed. “All right, fine. You are both two consenting adults,” he said. “I still think it’s a bad idea. Especially now. It’s only been a month, _____. You need more time.”

“I know that. And like I said, what happened just now,” _____ sighed. “Seven and I will be talking about it. Just not now. Not while you’re here.”

“Speaking of, Zen,” Seven said and shot _____ a dark smirk. “I think there’s someone here who would just looove to meet you.”

“Seven, no don’t,” _____ said, but she was grinning.

Seven snickered and stood up off the couch and left the room, looking for Honey. _____ sighed with a smile and shook her head before offering Zen up a cup of tea. He gratefully took it and took a sip of it.

“You know his feelings towards you, right?” Zen asked in a low voice.

“Even if I didn’t before, I know now…” she sighed.

He sighed as well. “I know I probably shouldn’t say this right now, but don’t hurt him. I don’t want either of you getting hurt because you jumped into something too quickly.”

“That’s the last thing I want to do to him,” she said. “I care about him, a lot. I don’t know if its love or something else, but I want to find out. I just… I know I need more time, I…”

Zen put a hand on her shoulder lightly. “It’s okay to want something, but if it’s something like this after what happened to you, I think you should take a little more time and really think.”

“You make it sound so easy. If I start thinking, I freak out. I get panicky. If I think about starting something with Seven, I start worrying about what could happen. Will I get hurt again? Will I hurt him? What kind of mistakes will I make? Will I ruin everything?” Zen squeezed her shoulder lightly and she stopped before she could start going around in circles.

“If you’re thinking things like that, then maybe you aren’t ready yet. And you should talk to Seven about this. Maybe not tonight or even tomorrow. But before the two of you decide to start something, you know? As much as I would hate to see the two of you getting hurt, this is between the two of you.”

“You’re being really mature about this,” _____ noted. “I honestly thought I would be cleaning up blood and patching Seven up when you first came in.”

Zen closed his eyes and gave her a tight smile, like he was trying to hold something back. “Oh believe me, I wanted to. I still do, but a lady like you shouldn’t be exposed to violence in your own home.”

“Hey, Zen!” came Seven’s voice from around the corner. He appeared near the wall, a devilish grin on his face. “Catch!” he said just before he lobbed something at Zen.

Zen blinked. “H-huh?” he said but held his arms out to catch what Seven threw at him.

He caught it and opened up his hands to see what it was. Honey stared up at him wide eyed, looking a little terrified after being thrown across the room. He meowed a bit and Zen jumped nearly three feet in the air before handing Honey off to _____.

“I changed my mind,” he said, sounding like he was about to sneeze. “He’s going to die today.”

_____ couldn’t help but giggle as she watched Zen run after Seven and chase him around the house. She just watched, putting the tray of tea down on the dining room table and pet her cat, trying to calm him down a bit. She would also need talk to Seven about throwing Honey.

 

“So did we learn something today?” _____ asked as she passed out plates of food.

Zen popped a couple allergy pills, chasing it down with some water. “Seven is stronger than he looks?”

“Don’t throw cats?” Seven asked, holding a bag of ice to the back of his head.

_____ couldn’t help but grin at the two boys at the dinner table. “ _Boys_ ,” she sighed and sat down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They got a little more carried away then just a kiss....... oh well~
> 
> EDIT: I'm just going to say this. I'm going to be writing a smutty version of the end of the last chapter and the beginning part of this, minus Zen of course. Just... the "plot" and set up... I can't help myself, so fuck it, I'm going to do it. I'll post it separately from this story and under a different title, but for those of you who want Seven porn, there shall be Seven porn. I'll probably post a link for it in the next chapters notes. This story on the other hand will remain Rated T for Teens.


	9. Vet Visits and Near Panic Attacks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Seven and _____ take Honey to the vet and the ex makes his first appearance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys! I'm sorry this chapter took so long to be released! I just had a bunch of midterms and studying to do the past weeks and it's finally over and NaNoWriMo started today so I'll be writing a lot of this story for the next month because I'm using it as my entry. 
> 
> I also want to put this here since I put this on my DeviantArt account which is going to go inactive with in the next two months. But I started up a mailing list. It's for my writing, updates on stories, and art as well. It will also provide updates for my patreon as well as wips for pictures I'm working on as well as polls that I will be opening for things you would like to see me write next. So if you want to join that list, just follow this link here: https://goo.gl/forms/wWr3O8m57nhKwM1Y2
> 
> That's the end of this note.

_____ stood by the sink, washing the dishes from dinner after Zen left. Honey was up on the island, eating his dinner and she was humming a random tune to herself as she washed the dishes. Seven leaned in the doorway and watched her for a while, trying to gather the nerve to try to talk to her about what happened earlier. Finally he took a deep breath and walked up to her, leaning against the island as he absentmindedly pet Honey as he ate.

“_____,” he said tentatively.

She looked over her shoulder at him. “Seven.”

“Can we talk? About earlier?” he asked.

Her face fell a little bit as she turned back to the dishes and Seven flinched. She turned off the water and dried her hands before turning to look at him. “Yeah, we should talk,” she said and sighed.

“Yeah,” Seven echoed and worried his lip.

The air around them was thick and he was having trouble finding the right words. Thankfully, _____ spoke first.

“So how much of my conversation with Zen did you hear?” she asked. It wasn’t meant to be challenging, it was more of a curious statement.

He shrugged. “All of it, honestly,” he said and scratched the back of his head. “That’s… kind of what I wanted to talk about.”

Panic and fear started to settle over her. Was he going to reject her before they even had a chance? But he was the one who kissed her first, so would he really? She swallowed and nodded. “What about it?”

He took another deep breath, letting it out slowly. “I’m going to be really honest here,” he said and then made a point to look her in the eyes. “I have feelings for you, if you couldn’t already tell, but I…” he sighed and raked a hand through his hair, feeling really nervous. “I don’t want to pressure you or make you feel like you need to return those feelings or do anything about it really unless you want.”

_____ smiled at him slightly. “Thank you for saying that, Seven,” she said and rubbed at her arms. “I… I don’t know what I want right now. I know that I feel something for you, I just… I don’t know what it is yet. I’d like to find out, but at the same time, I still need to heal. I know that in my head at least,” she sighed.

“But I’m guessing you’re feelings are telling you something different?” Seven asked.

She nodded.

“Look, if you want, I can back off. Switch with Yoosung and we can go back to only talking on the chat room or when we hang out. I’ll give you space if you need it,” he offered, secretly hoping that she wouldn’t accept.

She sighed again. “No… I’d much prefer you here then Yoosung. He might be overbearing…”

“Yeah, I suppose you do have a point there,” he chuckles weakly.

_____ smiled slightly. “I don’t want you to leave, Seven,” she said.

He smiled a bit and closed the distance between then, pulling her into a hug. “I’m not going anywhere unless you tell me to go,” he promised. “Besides, you have our cat!”

She couldn’t help but giggle and hugged him back. “But I swear, if you set up any sort of puns in the apartment, I might take you up on switching with Yoosung.”

“I told you, you’ll have to be married to me before I reach that level of meme,” he joked and let go of her. “I’ll help you clean up.”

“Thank you, Seven,” _____ said and went back to doing the dishes while Seven put away the  containers of leftovers and put more dirty dishes in the sink.

 

“So do we have everything we need?” Seven asked.

_____ nodded. “Yeah. Honey is in his carrier, we have the papers from the adoption. And I have my wallet and keys.”

“Then we should go before we’re late for the appointment,” he said.

“Well come on then,” _____ said and picked up Honey’s cat carrier and walked out of the door.

Seven smiled and grabbed the rest of the things they needed before following her out of the apartment. They took the elevator down the stairs and loaded everything up in his car. _____ hopped into the passenger’s side while Seven got into the driver’s seat and started the car. He drove to the vet, following _____’s instructions and when they got there, they walked inside. Seven took Honey’s carrier while _____ went to the reception desk to check in.

“Checking in or checking out?” The receptionist asked.

“Checking in,” _____ replied. “The name is Honey Choi.”

The receptionist looked at the computer before marking the appointment as arrived. “All right, you’re all set. The doctor will call you in when he’s ready.”

“Thank you,” _____ smiled politely before going to sit down next to Seven.

He raised an eyebrow at her. “Choi?”

“That is your last name, right?”

“Well, yeah, but it’s your cat.”

“You got him for me, so his last name is Choi,” she stuck her tongue out at him and she could see a light blush form on her cheek.

She was about to say something more when she noticed a certain someone walking from the back of the vet to the Annex, where they had more exam rooms. He looked exactly the same, though people don’t usually change much in the span of only four weeks, and he head was slightly turned towards them as he walked. Their eyes met and he immediately look the other way. _____ felt her heart drop to her stomach and the urge to run away was palpable. Seven noticed and moved his head in front of her field of vision, raising an eyebrow and looking worried.

“Is everything okay?”

_____ shook her head and started fidgeting. “He’s working today,” she said and tried resisting the urge to start biting her nails. It didn’t work and she started with her thumb. She had quit but the recent stress had caused her to start up again. Seven grabbed her hands and held them in her lap. Her breathing started to get out of control before Seven started to talk.

“Hey, calm down, it’s okay,” he said in a gentle voice. “I’m here. It’ll be okay. I promise. We’ll go see Dr. Charney and do whatever we need to do with Honey and then we’ll go back, eat ice cream and watch movies. Don’t let him have this much control over you,” he said, looking her in the eyes the whole time. “And if you want to make him feel terrible, to get pay back, then act like you’re okay. Act like you’re fine and nothing is bothering you. Act like you moved on, make him see that you’re stronger then he thinks you are.”

_____ shook her head, not saying anything, not trusting herself to speak right now.

“You can do it, I know you can. Trust me, I’ll help you,” Seven promised. “I’ll make sure that you get through this. So will you please try for me?”

_____ focused her eyes on him and held her breath for a second before letting it out. She nodded slowly. “I-I’ll try.”

Seven smiled at her and let go of her hands. “Thank you. I promise you nothing bad will happen today.”

She nodded again but before she could open her mouth to speak, a voice called out. “Honey?”

She looked up and saw a nameless kennel kid wearing a green scrub top. She nudged Seven and stood up, taking the cat carrier with Honey in it. “That’s us,” she said when she neared the kennel kid.

He smiled and nodded. “This way please,” he said and lead the three into Exam Room 4. “The doctor will be right with you,”

_____ nodded. “Thank you,” she said and sat down on a chair as the kennel kid left the room.

She opened up the carrier and pulled Honey out of it gently. She let the little kitten curl up in her lap and play with her hand. It would be easier for everyone if Honey had fond memories of the vet so that it wasn’t like pulling teeth to bring him here.

“So what’s this Dr. Charney like?” Seven asked.

_____ shrugged. “I don’t really know what he’s like when I’m a client, but when he would pocket me as his vet tech for appointments he was pretty funny and amiable. I also knew when to avoid him when he was in a bad mood, so I only faced the brunt of his anger once when I first started here.”

“Sounds like a nice guy,” he said.

“Yeah, he’s pretty cool,” _____ said just as the door opened.

“All right, so what do we have here?” Dr. Charney said as he entered the room with his nose in a chart. “Honey Choi…” he finally looked up at _____ and raised an eyebrow. “_____? I thought your last name was (l/n)?”

“Heya, Dr. Charney. And it is,” she said and stood up, cradling Honey in her arms. “This is Luciel Choi, the joint owner of this precious bundle of joy,” she put the kitten on the table and he immediately walked towards Dr. Charney.

Seven held out a hand, which Dr. Charney took. “Nice to meet you.”

“Likewise, so is this the elusive boyfriend we’ve been hearing so much about lately?” he asked.

_____ flinched a bit. “No. That elusive guy broke up with me last month. Luciel here is just a good friend helping me through a rough time.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that,” he said as he let Honey sniff his hand. “So shall we get this appointment underway, then?”

_____ nodded.

“All right, so do you know if she’s been spayed yet?” Dr. Charney asked.

“He hasn’t been neutered,” Seven corrected.

Dr. Charney raised an eyebrow. “A male calico? How’d you manage to find one?”

“I have some connections” Seven said and grinned triumphantly.

“Impressive connections,” Dr. Charney said and started to feel around the kittens body, testing joints and feeling how everything felt. “All right, everything feels normal. I guess you’re only here for shots today, then?”

“Yeah, and to know when we should get him neutered,” she asked.

“Well he’s the right weight to be ready for the operation. Do you want to declaw him too?”

_____ made a face. “I would never.”

Dr. Charney chuckled. “I knew there was something I liked about you,” he said. “We’ll have to do a blood test though to make sure he’s going to be okay with the anesthetic. Would it be okay if I stole him for a moment and brought him into the back to do the blood work and give the vaccines. It’ll be the rabies and the distemper. Is he an indoor or outdoor cat?”

“He’ll be an indoor cat,” _____ said.

“All right. Well, then, when we’re all done, I’ll send one of the kennel staff up with your cat,” Dr. Charney said.

“All right, no problem, thank you,” _____ said and handed Dr. Charney the cat carrier and walked with Seven out of the exam room.

“So Dr. Charney seems nice,” he said.

_____ giggled a bit. “He’s 33 years old, Seven, and married. And we’re only 21,” she joked.

“No, no. That’s not what I was getting at,” he said, but his blush said a different story.

_____ giggled a bit and sat down on the benches. “Relax, Seven. Sides, I don’t think you’re allowed to be jealous yet,” she said in a teasing voice.

He bumped her shoulder lightly. “I’m always jealous,” he admitted but in a playful tone. “I’m glad you’re feeling better.”

“It’s all thanks to you, Luciel,” she said.

He smiled at her and the two sat in a comfortable silence until _____ saw her ex-boyfriend walk into Reception with Honey’s carrier. He looked around and spotted her, his face neutral and walked towards her. _____ took a breath and she felt Seven lean just ever so slightly closer like he was trying to protect her. When he stood in front of them he handed the carrier back.

“Thank you,” _____ said.

“You’re welcome,” he replied ever so politely before turning on his heel and fast walking back into the back of the clinic.

Seven looked at her. “Are you okay?”

_____ sighed. “He hates me,” was all she said before she walked up to the receptionist to pay for the vet visit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just remembered, we're going to need to name the ex-boyfriend so if anyone has any suggestions, I'm open to them~


	10. Hackers and Cats

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Don't ask about the past of hackers and cats.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you, Misogi for the name Jeong Park for the boyfriend! Some honorable mentions are Richard, Dick for short, suggested by Kaffrrin and Sung Min suggested by kitsydemon.

“What do you mean he hates you?” Seven finally asked when they walked back into the house.

They didn’t speak as they drove back to _____’s apartment, _____ too lost in her own thoughts, trying to sort them out to be much of a conversationalist and Seven deciding to respect her privacy for the time being did not to press her just yet. But the second they got inside, she slumped down on the pullout mattress and started biting at her thumb \nail again. Seven sat down next to her after letting Honey out of his carrier. He put his arm around her waist and pulled her gently until she was leaning on his shoulder.

“Exactly what I said, he hates me,” she said and sighed. She sounded almost numb, either like the realization didn’t quite sink in yet or she was losing the ability to be surprised by it.

“I more meant how can you tell?” he asked.

“Well our mutual friend told me what Jeong was telling him about me and how he said I was the reason our relationship fell apart, but I couldn’t bring myself to believe that it was because he hated me now. Especially after he told me that he still loved me and told our friend that he still loved me as a friend. But seeing the way he looked at me I just… it almost shouted _I hate you_ at me…” she said and closed her eyes. “I don’t know if I can deal with that…”

Seven sighed and rested his chin on her head lightly. “You can. Even if you don’t have him any more, you’ll still have me, and Zen, Yoosung, Jaehee, and Jumin. We have no intention of leaving you. You did nothing wrong in your relationship with him. I would tell you if the fault really did rest on you. Real friends tell you when your face is dirty.” He kissed her hair and rubbed her back softly. “I’m not going to tell you to forget about him, or to just pick yourself up and move on. Just please, when you start feeling like this, I don’t care where I am or what I’m doing, talk to me. I said this before, but I feel like I need to tell you again. So will you?”

_____ looked up at him, lifting her head from his shoulder. “I will. Thank you, Seven.”

“You don’t need to thank me,” he said and smiled at her. “Do you feel better or is there more you want to say?”

_____ thought for a moment. “I don’t want to spiral down into another week of depression so do you think we could talk about something else?”

“Dinner?” He asked.

“It’s only 2, Seven,” she answered. “We are not having a repeat of last night. My kitchen is a No Seven Zone,” she joked.

“Then how about something like dinner plans instead?” he asked. “Do you want to go out or eat in? Order take out or cook?”

“Luciel Choi,” she said, mocking her best Southern Belle voice, “Are you askin’ me out on a date?”

He chuckled and shrugged. “Could be a date, could just be two friends going out, could be a little of both?” he said. “It’ll be whatever you want it to be.”

She smiled at him. “Then it’s a date.”

“Well, then, where would you like to go?” he asked.

She shrugged at him. “Surprise me?”

“Will do,” he chuckled and stood up. “So lunch before I get to work?”

“Yeah, I’ll make something,” she said and stood as well, disappearing into the kitchen.

 

-_____ entered the chat room-

 **Zen:** _____ you’re here!

 **_____:** Yeah. Seven and I just got back from taking Honey to the vet.

 **Jaehee:** How did it go?

 **_____:** He got his shots and we scheduled an appointment to get him neutered.

 **_____:** But um… Jeong was there.

 **Zen:** Jeong Park? Really? Are you okay?

 **_____:** Yeah… Seven was there so he helped. He and I are going out to dinner when he can justify another break from work.

 **Zen:** Speaking of Seven.

 **Zen:** Did you talk to him about what happened yesterday?

 **Jaehee:** What happened yesterday?

 **Jaehee:** :?

 **_____:** Yes, we did talk.

 **_____:** And he said he wasn’t going to pressure me.

 **_____:** And I was upfront about how I don’t know what my feelings are for him right now.

 **_____:** But I’m willing to explore them.

 **Jaehee:** Can someone please enlighten me about what’s going on?

 **Jaehee:** What are you two talking about?

 **Zen:** Seven and _____ kissed and I walked in on them sucking face!

 **_____:** ZEN! At least give her the full story.

 **_____:** He was trying to cook in my kitchen, heating up Honey Buddha Chips in a sauce pan on my stove.

 **Jaehee:** That sounds like Luciel.

 **Jaehee:** But I don’t see how that has anything to do with the two of you kissing.

 **_____:** I’m getting to that part.

 **_____:** anyway, I stole the pan from him and he chased me around my apartment.

 **_____:** Then I jumped up on the bed he’s staying on

 **_____:** he tackled me

 **_____:** and things got a little carried away.

 **Jaehee:** But how did Zen get there?

 **Zen:** She texted me while she was running from him

 **Zen:** Nearly freaking me out.

 **Zen:** -sends a screen shot of the text messages-

 **Zen:** I walked in and there I see

 **Zen:** Seven taking advantage of _____’s emotional state

 **Zen:** And trying to move in on her!

 **_____:** It wasn’t like that and you know it.

 **_____:** I just told you that he said he wasn’t going to try to pressure me.

 **_____:** he even offered switching places with Yoosung because he knew that what happened shouldn’t have.

 **Zen:** And why didn’t you take him up on that?

 **_____:** Let’s be honest here.

 **_____:** Yoosung can be a little… overbearing.

 **_____:** and I just…

 **_____:** It’s easier for me to talk to Seven about this stuff because he actually seems to understand.

 **Jaehee:** I mentioned something like that a few days ago if I recall correctly.

 **Jaehee:** I’m rather curious what his story is.

 **Zen:** Yeah, me too. Maybe we should interrogate him.

 **Jaehee:** I don’t think he would break under normal interrogation techniques.

 **Jaehee:** I’m sure that secret intelligence agency has screened him specially to make sure he wouldn’t easily break.

 **Jaehee:** Torture is also out of the question…

 **_____:** JAEHEE!?

 **Jaehee:** I’m only joking.

 **_____:** That sounds more like a joke Jumin would make, not you.

 **Zen:** Agreed.

 **Zen:** But maybe if you tried asking him, _____, he might open up.

 **_____:** if the opportunity arises I’ll try talking to him about it.

 **Zen:** And tell us everything!

 **_____:** only if he doesn’t tell me not to tell anyone.

 **Zen:** Deal.

 **_____:** Anyway, I gotta go, Seven is calling for me. I think he’s ready to go.

 **Jaehee:** all right. Just to clarify. We’re all meeting at the cafe tomorrow at noon?

 **_____:** I’ll be there!

 **_____:** Bye, Jaehee! Bye lovely Zen!

-_____ left the chat-

 

_____ followed Seven as the hostess led both of them to their table. She laid out the menus and told them that their server will be with them in just a moment. Seven thanked her with a smile and when she was gone he turned to _____. She was more interested in looking around the place. It wasn’t exactly fancy, but it certainly wasn’t a place you could go to in just a pair of jeans and a teeshirt. She’s actually rather glad that she actually decided to dress up a little bit. The dining room of the restaurant was dimly lit, giving just enough light to see where you were going and the other people around you, but the colors of the walls looked like darker shades of brown then what they probably were. She heard the chatter of the other patrons, loud yet also weirdly quiet.

“So what do you think of the place?” Seven asked.

“It’s pretty nice. Why did you want to come here?” she asked.

He shrugged. “I thought it would be a good place for either a first date or just a casual dinner hang out,” he joked and gave her a sly smile.

_____ found herself blushing a bit and started fiddling around with the napkin that was wrapped around the silverware. “Have you been here before?” _____ asked.

“No, but Zen said it was good food for the price,” he shrugged.

_____ nodded, “That’s good,” she said and picked up the menu, skimming through the dinner items on the page.

The two of them fell into a somewhat awkward silence as they both looked through the menus, trying to seem preoccupied while they tried to think of something to say to the other. Finally, _____ put down the menu and spoke up.

“So, Seven,” she started

“So, _____,” he replied, looking up at her and putting the menu back down on the table.

“Remember how a few days ago when you um… saved me?” she asked.

“Yes. I still have nightmares about it, by the way,” he grinned at her, obviously joking.

“Ha-ha very funny,” she said and rolled her eyes with a small smile. “Remember what you said? That you were in the same place I was and you’re still not completely over it?”

He nodded slowly and gave her a weird look. “Where is this going?” he asked

She shrugged, trying to play it off. “If you ever need someone to talk to, you know, to air things out, you can come to me,” she said. “I want to help you like you’re helping me. I don’t only want to be taken care of, worried over. I want to help you, too. So like… if you ever want to talk about anything from your past—”

“_____.” He interrupted her abruptly, his voice containing a sharp edge to it.

She looked at his expression, for barely a second it looked angry and vulnerable and shocked, like he wasn’t expecting this, or maybe he was he just didn’t know when it would come. But before she could comment on it, ask what was wrong, the look was replaced with his normal mask of calm smiles. He spoke before _____ could say anything more.

“I appreciate the offer but you really shouldn’t get involved with my past,” he said. “You know what I always say. Don’t ask about the past of hackers and cats.”

“You’ve said that, I know, but Seven, you can tell me anything if you really need. If you’re worried about the other RFA members finding out about you’re past, I won’t tell anyone,” she said.

“My past is dangerous, _____, trust me. The less you know the better,” he said, sounding serious this time.

_____ sighed. He obviously really didn’t want to say anything about it, but ever since Jaehee mentioned it the other day and brought it up again just before dinner, she was getting curious. She thought she knew who Seven was based on how he acted, but seeing these more serious sides made her question how much she really knew. She knew him right now, in this moment. She knew what his favorite foods were, how old he was, the kinds of jokes he made, but she didn’t know what he was like before that. She didn’t know how he grew up, if his family was nice, if he had siblings, what exactly his job was like. She felt that it was rather unfair because he knew everything, literally everything, about her, but she only knew a few things about him and she wanted to know more.

But she also knew better then to get into a fight with him. She didn’t want to argue with anyone at any given time, much less Seven while they were out to dinner and while she was in a slightly less then stable emotional state. She stared at his face, trying to figure out what the right thing to say to him would be. He was staring evenly back at her, his expression both closely guarded yet open. How could someone be both? It was confusing but something about the expression he was giving her and the way his eyes were boring into hers made her heart skip a beat.

He reached out and took her hand gently in his. “Look, _____, if something were to change in my life and I wasn’t as dangerous as I am and there wasn’t a threat of the wrong people finding out about me, I’ll open up to you. But right now, with your ex-boyfriend troubles, and the party coming up and the other weird stuff going on lately, the less you know about me the better.”

That’s right. She almost forgot that there was going to be a party for the RFA coming up soon. With the stress of what was going on, she had completely forgotten about it. She hasn’t even checked the emails lately and she was terrified that she was going to have a lot. She would have to check on those when they got back.

“All right, Seven. I’ll drop it for now,” she said. “But the offer is going to stand. And even if you don’t want to talk, just need a hug or something, I like hugs and I’m happy to provide them for you if you need.”

He smiled slightly at her and gave her hand a squeeze before letting go. “I’ll remember that,” he said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Join my mailing list to get notifications on polls and early sneak peeks on story chapters or drawings! https://goo.gl/forms/wWr3O8m57nhKwM1Y2


	11. V

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> V comes into the chat to offer his support and unintentionally starts to stir up trouble. Will everything be okay? Or will things start to fall apart?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's been a reeeeeaaaallllyyyy long time since I posted a chapter, but here is a new update! I hope to start updating much more frequently now that I'll be able to write some more over spring break and I finished my first big project of my own (which is pretty stellar I think.)
> 
> Anyway I hope you all enjoy the newest chapter and I hope to have more updates coming soon. I might write a lot and post each New chapter weekly, but we'll see what happens in the next update. 
> 
> Again I'm sorry it took so friggin long to post the new chapter. I hope it lives up to the standards of the old chapters.

Once they walked back inside and the date supposedly officially over, _____ pulled out her phone and opened the RFA messenger to find that she had over 20 emails from potential guests for the party. She sighed and sat down on the couch bed and started reading through them, answering the best she could. Seven sat down next to her almost immediately and started reading over her shoulder.

“You know, I almost completely forgot about the party,” Seven said and rested his chin on her shoulder as she answered emails.

“Yeah, me too. But I guess that’s pretty understandable all things considered,” she said and shrugged.

He chuckled. “By the way, the date isn’t over yet,” he said.

_____ raised an eyebrow at him. “What do you mean?”

Seven snickered. “I haven’t given you a kiss goodnight,” he teased. “Doesn’t that always happen at the end of dates?”

_____ snorted. She couldn’t help it. “You are such a dork,” she said.

“Be that as it may,” he smirked. “Though, if you really don’t want a kiss from me, then I won’t force you.”

She smiled softly at him. “No, I think I could spare a little bit of affection to throw your way for such an enjoyable time,” she said and locked her phone, placing it in her lap.

Seven lifted his head off of her shoulder and cupped her cheek with his hand and leaned in. “Maybe I should take you out more often, then,” he said before he gently placed his lips against hers in a chaste kiss.

It wasn’t as heated as the last one they shared. It was sweet and short and enjoyable. _____ returned the kiss but just before it could get much further then that, Seven pulled away. _____ noted the mournful look on his face, as if he didn’t want it to end so soon, but she also understood why he did it. She reached up and brushed the back of her hand against his cheek lightly.

“Thank you,” she said and smiled up at him.

He opened his mouth to say something, but instead, he opted to throw his arms around her and pull her into a tight hug. It surprised her, but she did tell him on the date that she wouldn’t turn down hugs, especially random ones. She hugged him back, resting her head on his shoulder as he held her. She started to wonder why he seemed to need the hug so badly, but decided to wait until he was satisfied. Finally he pulled back and _____ looked at him.

“Date officially over,” he said and smirked. “You can go back to checking the emails.”

She didn’t go back to her phone at first. “Is everything okay?” she asked.

He smiled sheepishly. “Yeah. Sorry about that I was just… afraid that you would just disappear on me.”

“I have no intention of doing something like that to you,” she said. “You don’t need to worry.”

“I know. I guess this is just something that comes along with the territory,” he said.

“Territory of what?”

He shook his head and plucked her phone off of her lap. “Here. We both have some work we need to get done,” he said and stood up off of the bed, walking to his set up on the dining room table.

_____ watched him go and sighed before she crawled up on the bed and leaned back on the pillows. “After we get some work done, do you want to watch a movie with me tonight?” she asked.

Seven turned and smiled at her. “I’d love to.”

She smiled back and then turned her attention to her phone and started answering the emails again. She wasn’t sure how much time had passed but by the time she finished she noticed that a chat room opened on the messenger. She shrugged and clicked on it, entering the room.

*     *     *

-_____ entered the chat room-

**_____** : V!

**_____** : You’re here!

**V** : Hello, _____.

**V** : how are you?

**V** : I heard about what happened.

**V** : are you okay?

**_____** : Okay is relative I guess

**_____** : But I’ll survive.

**_____** : Seven has been helping me.

**V** : Good. I’m glad to hear that everything is okay.

**V** : Listen.

**V** : If you need more time to handle the emails or even some help, don’t hesitate to ask me.

**V** : I understand that losing someone you love can be hard so if you need another friend to listen, you can come to me.

**_____** : I appreciate the offer, V

**_____** : But I’ve got the party emails under control. I just answered a whole bunch of them.

**_____** : Everything should be set for the party next Friday.

**V** : All right. If you’re completely sure.

**V** : Just remember that we’re all here for you if you need

-Jumin Han entered the chat room-

**Jumin** : Hello _____

**Jumin** : Hello V

**Jumin** : It’s nice to see you.

**V** : Jumin

**V** : How are you?

**Jumin** : I’m doing well.

**Jumin** : I’m actually glad you’re here.

**Jumin** : The six of us are planning to meet up tomorrow at noon.

**Jumin** : I’m sure everyone would be happy if you were to join us.

**V** : I’ll see what I can do. I’m very busy, but I’ll try to make it.

-707 entered the chat room-

**707** : THE PARTY HAS ARRIVED

**V** : Hello Luciel.

**707** : Oh, V. You’re here.

**707** : Is everything okay?

**V** : yes. I just came to make sure that _____ was okay.

**V** : Offer some more time if she needed.

**_____** : I told him it was all good.

**V** : I also heard that you’re staying with her for the time being

**V** : Do you think that’s really the best idea?

**707** : oh no.

**707** : not you too.

**V** : it’s not what you think.

**V** : listen.

**V** : I’m not going to be like Zen and tell you that it’s a bad idea or that you shouldn’t do this

**V** : Or be like Yoosung and give words of wisdom

**____** : wait, Yoosung said something about this too?

**707** : It’s not important _____.

**V** : But I will say that I hope you know what you’re doing, Luciel.

**V** : Anyway. I should probably get going.

**V** : I’ll try to see all of you tomorrow.

-V left the chat room-

**_____** : …

**_____** : Seven

**_____** : What was V talking about, what about Yoosung?

**707** : Look, it’s not important.

**707** : Just drop it for now okay?

**Jumin** : Well, I see the two of you have things you need to sort out.

Jumin: I’ll see you guys tomorrow.

-Jumin left the chat room-

**_____** : Seven.

**_____** : Couch.

**_____** : Now.

-_____ left the chat room-

*     *     *

_____ locked her phone and put it in her pocket as she waited for Seven to gather up the courage and come talk to her. She watched as he took a deep breath and stood up from his set up and sit down next to her on the couch. _____ gave him an expectant look. He sighed.

“Look, what happened with Yoosung isn’t really important,” he said. “It doesn’t matter.”

“If it has to do with me, I think it does,” she replied. “Just tell me. It’s not like it’ll change anything.”

“You say that but…” he trailed off and unlocked his phone.

He scrolled through chat rooms until he came across the one that was him and Yoosung talking. He handed _____ the phone and signaled to her to just read what was said between him and Yoosung. He watched as her face went from blushing with embarrassment at that picture of her and Honey sleeping to confusion and hurt when she got further into the conversation. He couldn’t really blame her though.

“What…” she couldn’t form the question but Seven already knew what it was.

“I swear I didn’t mean any of it,” he said.

“I was just saying that to get Yoosung off my back. I didn’t want to try to explain to him what was going on. I was afraid that would lead to more questions I didn’t want to answer.”

“But… what did you mean when you said that you weren’t going to admit to things that would lead to anything anyway?” she asked and looked at Seven.

It broke his heart to see the pain on her face. Because of him. He mentally cursed at V for bringing it up and making her question it and him. Though some part of him deep down knew that it was entirely his fault. He sighed.

“Because of my job,” he admitted, “I can’t have a personal life. You’re in danger just by being close to me.” He sighed and reached out, brushing away the tear that fell from her eye with his thumb. “But I just… I can’t… I kept you at arms length while you were dating Jeong because that’s what was necessary. But when you almost killed yourself because of the breakup, I was so scared that I was going to lose you and the thought nearly drove me insane. I couldn’t really deny that I felt something for you at that point, and even though everyone pretty much knew already, I had been denying and denying it over and over that it felt wrong to just suddenly admit it to them. I was just protecting myself. It’s what I’m good at really.” He rested his forehead against hers and closed his eyes. “I should have told you sooner, I know. I’m sorry I didn’t.”

He fell silent and _____ just stared at his face and didn’t say anything. She couldn’t find the words. She hurt. For some reason this pain felt worse then the breakup and she wasn’t sure why. It felt like she was losing someone else close to her, or at least lost a part of him. She searched his face, trying to find any trace of uncertainty or deceit in his expression, but found nothing. Seven opened his eyes and looked at her, pleadingly.

“Say something,” he said, “please.”

“I don’t know what to say,” she replied and sighed, her voice thick. “I want to cry, I want to scream and yell. I want to break something. I feel a little betrayed right now and I don’t know what to do with this feeling.”

He sighed and dropped his gaze, straightening up. “I’m sorry. I never wanted this to happen.”

“Then you shouldn’t have let it,” she said.

“If you care about me the way you won’t admit to the others, then you shouldn’t have let this happen. You should have told me. I care about you Seven. I don't exactly know in what way yet, but you’re important to me and you are one of the people I trust the most in the RFA.”

“But?” he asked.

“But if you want me to open up to you about my own feelings, I think it only fair if you do the same,” she said. “I don’t care if you’re feeling sad or depressed or angry. Talk to me. If you want to talk about some painful memories, share that with me. It’s a lot easier to carry things together then alone.”

His looked up at her, his eyes widened with shock. “What you’re saying is… you’ll forgive me?”

“If you talk to me like you want me to talk to you,” she said. “I’ll forgive you.”

He smiled and hugged her tightly. “I promise, I will,” he said.

“But this doesn’t mean that I’m your girlfriend,” _____ said. “I’m still not ready to jump into another full blown relationship and I don’t want to hurt you by giving you the wrong idea.”

“I know,” he said. “I’m content just being like this for now. What ever this is.”  
She smiled and hugged him back. “Thank you for understanding."

“Stop thanking me,” he said and nuzzled her gently before letting her go. “So movie?”

She laughed a bit. “I’ll make popcorn. You pick the movie,” she said and got up off of the couch and sauntered into the kitchen.

Seven watched as she walked out of the living room and into the kitchen. “I’ll wait for you,” he said to himself, a silent promise.

With a sigh he got up off of the bed and went to _____’s DVD collection and picked out a comedy, figuring the both of them could use a laugh after the serious talk they just had. He popped the DVD into the player and made himself comfortable on the couch bed and waited until _____ returned with the buttery goodness.


	12. Breakfast In Bed and Messing With Zen

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Seven makes breakfast in bed and then messes with Zen on the way to the cafe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm going to say that updates are going to be rather irregular. I'm saying this because I can't stick to the once a week updates because I get so excited about new chapters and I just have to share them. I'm not going to force myself to do daily updates so I don't go insane. 
> 
> I am still writing this and after this chapter I have 1 more already written and "in stock" I guess. I also have a flight to California and a spring break starting in the next few days so I shall have plenty of time to have more and more characters "in stock" so I hopefully don't run out before I finish this story. 
> 
> (Also to be honest, I don't have an endgame yet for this. Just sayin. Maybe I'll think of something along the way.)

_____ woke up laying in her own bed, though she was almost completely positive that she and Seven fell asleep together on the couch, leaning against each other. Then again, after she conked out, she really had no way of telling if Seven had fallen asleep. She sighed and smiled slightly as she smoothed out the covers that were tucked around her. She stood up out of bed and stretched, pulling out a change of clothes and slipping into them. Something nice that she would feel good in while hanging out with her friends.

Once she was changed she walked out of the room to go wake Seven, but when she passed the kitchen she saw that he was standing over the stove. And the fire was on.

“What?! Seven!” she shouted “I thought I told you that my kitchen was a No Seven Zone!”

Seven looked up at her and grinned. “Relax. I'm cooking actual food this time,” he said and tilted the pan ever so slightly to show some scrambled eggs. “I at least know how to cook this much.”

_____ blinked a bit. “Huh. Okay. I guess. Just… don't burn my house down.” She walked over to the island and hopped up on the counter. “So did you carry me into bed last night?” she asked.

“Hmm?” he said as he stirred the eggs around in the pan. “Yeah I did. As much as I'd have loved to fall asleep with you again, I didn't think it was the most appropriate at the time. So I just brought you into your room.”

She smiled at him. “Thank you.”

“You really need to stop thanking me,” he said and poured the scrambled eggs on a plate and handed them to her. “I almost kind of wanted to send you back to bed, but I guess breakfast on the island is just as good,” he joked.

_____ raised an eyebrow at him. “Oh? So you were planning breakfast in bed were you?” She couldn't help the smile that started to stretch across her face. “Mind if I do play along anyway?” she asked.

Seven laughed and took the plate back. “By all means. If of course, you don't mind me cooking in your kitchen,” he teased.

“I think I can make an exception just this once,” she said and hopped off the counter. “Just don't you dare start heating up Honey Buddha Chips in my cookware.”

Seven held up his left hand and put his right over his heart. “Scouts honor,” he said.

_____ rolled her eyes but smiled anyway. “I'll be waiting,” she said and sauntered back into her room.

She wasn't exactly sure why she did it, but she changed out of her clothes and back into what she wore while she was asleep. She pulled the covers back over her and laid back down, an involuntary yawn erupting from her mouth. Her mind started to wander to just what exactly Seven had planned for the food he was making her. She already knew about the eggs. She just hoped he wasn't going to burn the house down. She could probably suffer through overcooked food but she definitely couldn't deal with a fire.

Finally the door was pushed open and Seven walked in with a tray covered really good smelling food. _____ sat up and looked at him as he walked over and placed it on her lap.

“Smells really good. I'm surprised,” she said and looked down at the assortment of breakfast foods.

There were the eggs from before on the tray along with buttered toast cut in triangles and arranged like kitten ears. Still hot looking bacon was arranged to look like whiskers and there was some grated cheese on three little spots on the eggs to look like two eyes and a nose. _____ couldn't help but smile as the adorableness of the breakfast cat. Next to the plate was a glass of orange juice.

“I never said I couldn't cook. I just choose not to,” Seven said and smirked. He handed over a fork. “Eat up before it gets cold.”

_____ giggled a bit. “How do you expect me to eat this? It looks like Honey. I couldn't do that to our precious little kitten,” she joked.

Seven laughed and reached down and picked up the little kitty that was twining himself around Sevens legs. “Don't worry. Honey is right here,” he said before he put the kitten on the bed. 

Honey curled up right next to _____’s hip, resting his head on her leg and looked up at her, his golden eyes wide an oh so innocent looking. Very suspicious.

“Did you feed him table scraps?” She asked.

Seven’s face turned red and looked to the side. “I don't know what your talking about,” he said and then looked at Honey. “Don't tell her a thing.”

“Seven.” _____ chided but smiled anyway and rubbed Honey’s head and scratched behind his ears. She felt her heart swell and start to hurt sitting like this with her precious cat and her precious friend. “Thank you, so much,” she said and took the fork and started eating the food.

Seven reached over and pulled at her cheeks. “Damn it. I told you to stop!” He said with a laugh.

She swatted at his hands, her cheeks hurting from both his pulling and her constant smiles. “Can't make me!”

*     *     *

-_____ entered the chat room-

**_____** : hey guys

**Zen** : _____!  
****

**Zen** : are you on your way?

**_____** : we will be soon.

**_____** : I'm helping Seven clean up after breakfast.  
****

**Yoosung** ★: ;_;  
****

**Yoosung** ★: I'm the only one here.  
****

**Yoosung** ★: I feel so lonely.

**_____** : don't worry Yoosung.

**_____** : Seven and I will be there soon!

**Zen** : do you mind swinging by and picking me up on your way, _____?

**Zen** : I don't feel like taking the train today

**Zen** : or using my motorcycle.

**_____** : not a problem.

**_____** : give us ten minutes and then walk out side.

**_____** : starting

**_____** : …

-707 entered the chat room-

**707** : NOW!

-707 left the chat room-

**Zen** : -_-”

**Zen** : did he really just come online to do that?

**_____** : yes

**_____** : he's cackling at the steering wheel.

**Zen** : I don't get him.

-Jaehee Kang entered the chat room-

**Jaehee** : I'm here.

**Jaehee** : did anyone else arrive?

**Yoosung** ★: I'm here. I'm the forever alone in the corner.

**Yoosung** ★: ;_;

**Jaehee** : oh I see you.

**Jaehee** : Mr. Han is on his way, I think.

**Jaehee** : he told me to go on ahead without him.

-Jumin Han entered the chat room-

**Zen** : speak of the jerk

**Zen** : and the jerk shall arrive.

**Jumin** : what are you talking about

**Jumin** : I believe the proper phrasing is speak of the devil

**Zen** : whatever. Both fit when it comes to you.

**_____** : Zen were outside.

**Zen** : be right there!

-Zen left the chat room-

**_____** : We’ll be there soon.

**Jumin** : All right. See you.

**Yoosung** ★: Bye!

**Jaehee** : Goodbye

-_____ left the chat room-

*     *     *

“Today is probably going to be a lively one,” Zen said as he relaxed in the back seat of Seven’s car.

“It’ll be good though,” _____ said. “I can’t wait to see everyone.”

Zen reached over and ruffled _____’s hair and chuckled. “I'm sure everyone will be happy too.”

She swatted at his hand and felt a blush rise up in her cheeks. “Hey! How would you feel if I messed up your hair!” she protested. She looked over at Seven and noticed him looking at the two of them, but didn't say anything.

Zen snickered. “It depends on how you messed it up,” he teased with a wink.

A weird presence started to loom over _____ and she looked at Seven again. His eyes were narrowed but he was paying attention to the road now. She made a mental note that Seven when he was actually jealous was pretty attractive. She brushed his arm slightly before she turned in her seat and looked at Zen.

“Lovely Zen,” she said, “what about all of your fans who would be just devastated if you had a girlfriend?”

Zen chuckled. “They'll just have to get over it.”

_____ rolled her eyes but grinned. “Then I'm sorry to break it to you, but I'm otherwise spoken for,” she joked.

Zen’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. “WHAT?!” he said and looked between _____ and Seven. “When?!”

Seven looked at Zen though the rear view mirror and _____ noticed the grin on his face. “Didn't you hear? The date is set for next month! We’re getting married!”

_____ laughed. “Yes! After we leave you guys at the cafe we’re going to get the engagement ring. We're very happy.”

“M-m-married?!” Zen stuttered. He looked about to faint.

Seven nodded and slowed the car to turn into the parking lot. “Yes. This leads to a very important question,” he said and pulled into a spot. He parked the car and turned fully to look at Zen. “Will you be my best man?”

Zen blinked a few times. And then he narrowed his eyes at Seven. _____ had a hard time concealing her excited, hysteric giggles. Zen lifted a finger and pointed it at Seven.

“You're not serious,” he said, surprisingly calm now.

Seven pouted. “How easily you dismiss our love,” he said.

_____ couldn't help it. She lost it, her giggled turning into full blown laughter.

“How did you figure it out?” She said when she composed herself enough to actually form words.

“Seven asking me to be his best man,” he said. “Even if he were to get married, I figured he'd ask Yoosung.”

“Hey! What do you mean _if_?” Seven said.

“Oh look! I see Jaehee waiting for us inside,” Zen said and scrambled out of the car and into the cafe.

_____ giggled as he fled the car and then turned to Seven. “If you're jealous of Zen, then don't be. He may be attractive, but he's not my type.”

Seven raised an eyebrow at her. “Oh? Then what is your type?”

_____ put a finger to her lips and winked. “Wouldn't you like to know,” she teased and got out of the car, giggling.

Seven got out and fell into step next to her as they walked to the front. Just as they reached it, Jaehee and Zen appeared in the door, stopping her from going inside.

"We don't think this is a good idea. I think we should all go somewhere else,” Jaehee said. “I'm very sorry.”

“Huh? What's going on?” _____ asked.  
Yoosung appeared behind the two of them. “Jeong is here.”


	13. Good Friends and Good Coffee

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _____'s friends show just how far they'll go to cheer her up

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shit starts getting real

_____ froze and she felt her heart drop to the floor and ice started creeping in. She shivered and started to breathe a littlequicker until she felt a hand wrap around hers. She turned her head and saw Seven looking at her, clearly concerned. She forced her breathing to slow down and turned to look at her friends. After giving Seven’s hand a grateful squeeze, she dropped it. But just before she could open her mouth to say something to her friends, a presence creeped up behind her. 

“What's going on here? Is everything okay?” Jumin’s voice said. 

_____ turned to look at him and tried to find her voice, but before she could, Jaehee spoke in her place. “Jeong is here. We were telling her so we could decide to go somewhere else,” she said, sounding professional as always while addressing Jumin. 

His eyes widened a fraction of an inch just as he quickly turned _____ around and started leading her away from the cafe.

She didn't have much choice but to follow until she finally found herself and protested.

“W-wait,” she said. “No. I want to stay here.”

Jumin stopped walking and looked at her. He then looked behind him at the others who had started following them. “Are you sure?” he asked. “You don't have to be ready to face this.” 

_____ looked up at him, rather surprised that he was showing so much concern for her. She felt rather flattered and it made her feel a little bit better. She nodded. 

“I'm sure,” she said. “I can't have him ruling over me like this forever. I came here to have a good time with my friends and damn it that's exactly what I'm going to do.”

Jaehee walked around _____ and stood in front of her, taking her hands in hers, concern clear. “Are you absolutely sure? 100%?” 

_____ took a deep breath and nodded. “I'm sure,” she said. 

Jaehee sighed and gave a meaningful look to Seven before she looked back at _____. “If there's no changing your mind,” she said. 

_____ nodded. “I'll be okay,” she said and gave a reassuring smile. 

Jumin looked at ____ and then at Jaehee. “Well then, shall we?”

Without another word Jaehee lead the way back to the cafe followed by Yoosung, Zen, and Jumin. Seven and _____ took up the rear. He looked at her. 

“Are you really sure?” he asked in a voice only she could hear. 

She nodded and reached for his hand. “You're here with me.”

Seven grasped her hand firmly and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I'm not going anywhere.”

As they passed through the door, Seven made a move to let go of her hand, but _____ wasn't having it. Instead they walked in behind their friends, holding hands.

Once inside, _____ unconsciously started scanning the cafe for the familiar face that was her ex-boyfriend. She finally spotted him, off to one of the sides by the window. He was sitting there sipping at a coffee but he wasn't alone. He was across from a girl, looking deep in conversation. She looked a little bit like _____ did, except her hair was maybe a few inches longer and a shade or two lighter. She couldn't see her face but she didn't think she wanted too. 

She felt an icepick borrow its way into her heart when she saw that Jeong was reaching across the table to hold the girl’s hand. _____ faltered just slightly as the realization hit. This was what her friends were trying to protect her from. Seven noticed her almost trip and followed her gaze. When he saw Jeong along with the girl, his expression hardened and he intentionally moved in _____’s line of sight to cut her off from it. He looked at _____ and squeezed her hand, forcing her attention to him. 

“We can still leave,” he said. 

She shook her head. “I'm… I'll be okay.”

Seven sighed and pulled out a seat for her at the table. She thanked him and sat down. He took the seat next to her and when _____ looked up, she saw four faces looking at her worriedly. 

“We can still go,” Yoosung echoed Seven. 

“Yeah. There's no need to push yourself to be here for us. We did all agree to hang out to make you feel better,” Jaehee said. 

Zen nodded in agreement while Jumin turned his gaze from _____ to Jeong with the new girl. His expression didn't change from its usual neutrality, but somehow _____ felt like he was scheming. 

“I appreciate your concern guys, but I'll be fine. I promise. It's to be expected, really,” she sighed and started fidgeting with the hem of her shirt. Seven out his hand over hers in an effort to stop her, uncharacteristically quiet. “But like Seven said. The best revenge is to make him think that I'm better off the he is.”

Jaehee smiled warmly at her. “Truly admirable,” she said. “But keep in mind. We don't have to stay here all day. We can go to other places once we’re done here.”

Zen opened his mouth to say something before a loud squeal rose over the chatter of the cafe. Zen flinched with a knowing look, which was only confirmed when the six of them heard someone shriek in that trademarked fangirl voice. 

“OHMIGOD IS THAT ZEN!?” 

Everyone in the cafe turned to look and saw that it was Jeong’s date that had committed the assault on everyone's ears. She was standing from her chair and Jeong was looking up at her he turned his gaze towards the six sitting at the table. At first it didn't seem to notice that _____ was sitting along with them, but once he did, his expression became guarded. 

The date turned to look at him. “We just have to go get an autograph!” she said in that annoying squeak of a voice, pulling at Jeong’s arm. 

He reluctantly followed as his date pulled him along to the table. _____ carefully kept herself from looking them, counting in Mississippi’s in time to her breathing. Seven didn't remove his hands from hers and was glaring daggers at Jeong. Yoosung wasn't concealing his disdain for the other male either. Zen kept up appearances and smiled politely while Jumin still looked expressionless. Jaehee donned her professional neutrality as well. The second the girl stood next to Zen she was practically beaming with happiness. 

“I can’t believe it's really you!” she said and dug through her handbag, pulling out a pad and paper. “Can you sign this for me? To Chizuru.”

“Of course,” he said, that still polite smile on his face. He took the pen and paper. “That's an unusual name. Are you from Japan?” 

“No. I was born here in Korea. My mother was from Japan, though,” she said, keeping up the conversation. She looked at the rest of the table. “Are these your friends?”

“Yeah,” Zen said and went around the table, introducing everyone.

“It's nice to meet you all. I'm Chizuru Kim, and this is my boyfriend Jeong Park.”

_____ visibly stiffened at the term boyfriend and had to hold her breath to stop herself from hyperventilating. 

“We've already had the pleasure of meeting Jeong before,” Seven said sharply. 

“Oh really? Then would you mind if we joined all of you?” Chizuru continued, unperturbed by Seven’s tone of voice. 

_____ abruptly stood up, her hair falling in her face and walked out of the cafe without a word. She didn’t turn to look at her friends who were all looking at her with worried faces. All that mattered was getting out. The last thing she heard before she left the cafe was Chizuru. 

“Is she okay? Did I say something wrong?”

The door closed behind her and _____ blindly walked to Seven’s car. She leaned against it, bowing her head as she tried to breathe slowly. She was so lost in her thoughts of hatred, self loathing and despair that she didn't notice the presence behind her. Not until a hand turned her around and pulled her into a pair of familiar arms. Without a word she wrapped her arms around Seven and buried her head in his shirt. She refused to cry, absolutely refused. After a while her breathing slowed and she relaxed a bit. When Seven was sure that she could stand on her own, he let go and looked at her, lifting her chin with his knuckle. 

“We’ll talk about this when we get home, okay? You don't have to say anything now, but I'm not going to let you bottle this up,” he said in a soft voice. 

She nodded. “All right.” 

She took a deep breath and stepped back a bit. When she looked passed Seven, she noticed that Jumin, Jaehee, Yoosung, and Zen were walking out of the cafe. Jaehee was holding a cup of coffee and a pastry bag. When they spotted Seven and _____, Jaehee walked over to them, offering up the coffee and bag to _____. 

“Here. You could use this,” she said. 

_____ gratefully took it and gave Jaehee a small smile. “Thank you so much.”

“So where should we go?” Zen asked. 

“I know a place. It’s a dog park not far from here,” Yoosung spoke up. “Puppy therapy is the best therapy. Puppy kisses can make anyone smile.”

_____ smiled at him. “I’d like that. Thank you, Yoosung.”

 


	14. Puppy Therapy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yoosung takes them all to a dog park and _____ gets some advice from a helpful stranger with a Husky.

Yoosung went into Seven’s car with _____ and Zen and they took lead while Jaehee and Jumin followed behind them. Yoosung directed Seven through the streets while _____ and Zen sat in the backseat. Zen put his hand over hers gently. 

“Are you okay?” he asked.

_____ nodded for the fourth time since they got in the car. “Yeah. I’ll be fine, Zen,” she said. “I just can’t wait to get to the dog park.”

“We’ll be there soon,” Yoosung said and looked behind him at the two sitting in the back. Then he turned back to look ahead. “Next left and then it’ll be on your right.”

Seven nodded and _____ noticed that he hasn’t really spoken much since they got in the car. _____ wondered what was going through his head. She knew that she should be worrying about herself, but she just couldn't help worrying about him. She would have to remember to ask him when they got back home. 

Finally the car pulled into a parking spot. Jumin’s driver pulled up next to them and they all spilled out of the car. Except Jumin. He elegantly stepped out of his car, adjusting his tie. _____ finally got a chance to wonder why he was wearing a full suit when he was just hanging around with friends. There was nothing professional about that. Just as she was about to ask him about it, he took off his suit jacket and gave it to his driver, who hung it up inside the car. _____ just shrugged to herself and looked at everyone before she focused on Yoosung. 

“Come on, it’s this way,” he said and started walking.

Yoosung led them through the small park until they came across a large fenced in area filled with all kinds of dogs off leash and their owners. _____’s eyes widened as she watched from afar the puppies that yipped and tried playing with the older dogs or each other. Yoosung opened up the gate for them to walk into a small area before closing the one he opened. Seven opened the second gate and everyone walked into the dog park. Almost immediately the little excitable puppies swarmed them, jumping up and demanding pets from the new people that just walked in.

_____ couldn't help but laugh at the small little black and white Husky puppy that nuzzled and nipped at her hand. She knelt down to oblige the needy dog. As she was petting him, she noticed that the others, except Seven who was standing behind her, had wondered off. Jumin was standing in a corner trying to avoid contact with the dogs, probably thinking that Elizabeth the 3rd would get upset with him or jealous. Zen and Yoosung were walking around, followed by a German Shepherd and a Collie. Jaehee was crouched down in front of a large Bernese Mountain Dog in what _____ thought was some kind of staring contest with the dog. 

When the Husky noticed that she wasn't paying attention to him anymore, he licked and licked at _____’s cheek. _____ laughed and went back to scratching the dog with reckless abandon. 

“Scrapper!” called a voice.

The dog responded immediately and yipped, taking a few running steps towards the voice and then looked back at _____. 

“I think he wants you to follow him,” Seven said and put a hand on the small of her back lightly. She looked at him and noticed that there was a smile on his face, a better expression then what he looked like back at the cafe and while they were driving. 

“Come on then,” she said and grabbed his hand and started dragging him along.  
When they reached the puppy, he started walking happily back to his owner. Standing there was a woman about _____’s age. When Scrapper neared his owner, he started wiggling with uncontainable excitement. He ran up to her and nearly threw himself at her legs. The woman giggled and crouched, scratching his ears and neck. Then she looked up at _____ and Seven. 

“I see you made some new friends,” she said and kissed the dogs head. She stood up and held out her hand. “Hey. I’m Jangmi,” she said. 

“It’s nice to meet you,” _____ said and shook her hand. “I’m _____.”

“Luciel,” Seven said and also shook her hand.

“What brings the two of you here?” Jangmi asked. “Thinking about getting a dog?”

_____ shook her head. “We have a cat at home,” she said. “A good friend of ours told us that puppy therapy is the best kind of therapy.”

“Smart friend,” Jangmi laughed. “I don’t mean to pry, but why do you need puppy therapy? You don’t need to answer if I’m being too forward.”

_____ scratched the back of her head. “It’s nothing too bad, I guess,” she said. “My boyfriend dumped me last month and we just ran into him with his new girlfriend.”

“Oh ouch. That's harsh,” Jangmi said. “But it does get better. Take it from someone who just got over her ex six months later. It’s never terrible for long. And you’re not alone,” she said and motioned to Seven.

_____ looked at him briefly and noticed him scratching the back of his head with an embarrassed smile on his face. “I’m just a recovering soldier helping another stuck in the hole.”

Jangmi gave a knowing smile and looked at _____. “You’ve got good friends around you.” 

_____ smiled a bit and leaned back against Seven just slightly. “I know,” she said. 

“Hey, how would you like to play with Scrapper for a while?” she asked and pulled out a green tennis ball out of her coat pocket.

Scrapper immediately perked up and started barking at the ball. _____ laughed and the nodded. 

“I would love to if you don't mind,” she said. 

“Not at all. This is good for him, anyway,” Jangmi said and handed over the ball. 

_____ knelt on the ground and waved the ball in Scrappers face. He sniffed it, following it with his nose and then when _____ tossed it, he took off running after it.

*     *     *

Jangmi left the park sometime after _____ and Seven started playing with Scrapper. They said their goodbyes, Jangmi saying that she hoped to see them again sometime to play with Scrapper more at the dog park. Once they left, _____ headed over to Yoosung and Zen while Seven took a break from all of the puppy attention to go stand over by Jumin. 

At first they stood in a companionable silence, just standing, watching over the other four as they played with the dogs. Jaehee had moved from the staring contest with the Bernese Mountain Dog to petting its stomach, which the dog seemed to greatly appreciate. It was laying on its back while Jaehee scratched and scratched. Yoosung, Zen and _____ were in a circle of puppies, laughing and talking.

“So I was thinking,” Jumin said. 

“Are you going to let me see Elly~?” Seven said excitedly.

“Absolutely not,” Jumin responded coolly. “Something serious.” 

Seven frowned. “What about then?” 

“The party coming up,” Jumin said. “I think there’s something I want to do to get back at Jeong for hurting _____ the way he has been.” 

Seven raised an eyebrow. “Oh? How to you think you can do that?”

“I’m not quite sure yet,” he said. “But it would involve you and _____.” 

“Involve us how?” Seven said. 

“Like I said, I’m not quite sure yet. I haven’t worked out the details just yet,” Jumin answered. “But I can’t just stand by and watch her get hurt over and over because of him and I can’t just watch him get away with it.” 

“I know how you feel,” Seven said. “But…” 

“But what?” Jumin looked at Seven.

“I don’t think that's what _____ would want,” Seven said and crossed his arms, looking up at the sky. “She’s not a vindictive person. And she still worries about his feelings, as much as I’m trying to get her to see that he’s not worth it.”

Jumin frowned, which wasn’t much different then his normal expression. The corners of his lips turned down just a fraction and his eyes narrowed ever so slightly. “Hmm…” he said. 

“ _Hmm_ what?” Seven asked. 

“Nothing,” Jumin sighed. 

Seven narrowed his eyes at the other man before he sighed. Jumin was almost as good as he was at keeping secrets, so he knew there was no way he was going to be able to get him to say anything about what he was thinking. Oh well. He stretched a bit and cracked his neck before he started walking towards Zen, Yoosung and _____.

*     *     *

The sky started turning red before the six of them left the dog park. _____ was definitely in better spirits now, laughing with Zen and Yoosung and Seven. Jaehee was watching their conversation with a smile on her face while Jumin was listening, chiming in with a quip here or there. 

“So we’ll drive Yoosung and Zen home?” _____ asked when they reached the cars.

“About that,” Jumin said. “I was thinking…” 

Seven’s head jerked up and gave Jumin a hard look, which he ignored. 

“You thinking? I hope it’s not more work for Jaehee,” Zen muttered. 

Jumin ignored that, too. “Since the cafe was a bust, I’m offering to take everyone out for dinner.” 

Zen’s jaw hit the floor. “WHAT?” 

“You heard me.” 

“I couldn’t ask you to do that,” _____ spoke up.

“You’re not asking for it though. I’m offering,” he said. “So it’s okay for you to accept. I insist actually.” 

Jaehee gave Jumin a look that was nearly unreadable. It was a mix between appreciation and admiration for his version of thoughtfulness. She looked at _____. “He does have a point,” she said.

_____ chewed at her lip a bit, but after a while, she nodded. “All right, where are you thinking, then?” 

“Surprise,” he said. “Though I suggest that we all go home and get cleaned up first. Dog hair and casual clothes won’t be acceptable for this place.” 

_____ started to protest again, but stopped herself. She already accepted. She sighed. “All right, then tell us where to meet in about an hour or so.”

Jumin nodded. “Come on, Assistant Kang, I’ll drop you off at home on my way.”

Jaehee nodded. “I’ll see you all later then,” she said and climbed into Jumin’s car. 

Seven, Yoosung, Zen and _____ piled into Seven’s car, _____ in the passengers seat and Yoosung and Zen in the back seat.

“Well, looks like we’re all getting treated to a fancy dinner,” _____ said. 

Zen frowned in the back seat. “Stupid rich kid, flaunting his money like that.” 

“I think it’s kind of sweet actually,” Yoosung said. “He’s trying to help _____ feel better in his own way.” 

_____ smiled a bit. “You guys are the best.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Couple notes  
> -Jangmi means Rose (as far as I know. If that's wrong let me know and I'll change it.) it's my middle name.  
> -Scrapper is the name of my first dog, though she was a girl and also a German Shepherd, Doberman Pinscher mix.  
> -The Husky is the breeed of dog I've always wanted.


	15. Like You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thing's are starting to stir in the relationship between _____ and Seven. Can they work through these things? And what's going on with that mysterious hacker? Seven reveals a little bit more about himself.

After they dropped off Zen and Yoosung at their respective houses, with promises to pick them up in an hour, _____ and Seven arrived back at her apartment. _____ opened the door for him and he walked inside. Honey was curled up on the couch and when they walked into the apartment, he lifted his head and blinked at them. His little nose started moving as he sniffed the air, meowing indignantly. 

“He knows what we did,” Seven joked and walked over, scratching Honey behind his ears before he turned to look at _____.

“Do you want to talk about what happened now or later?” he asked.

_____ frowned a moment in thought. If she talked about it now she would probably be all depressed while she was at dinner with her friends. But then again, if she waited to talk about it, it might end up being worse. She sighed and looked at her feet.

“I don’t know honestly,” she said. “I could probably use a hug though.”  
Seven gave her a soft smile before he walked over to her. “You don’t even need to ask,” he said and wrapped his arms around her. 

She slid her arms around his waist and held onto him for a while, burying her face in his shirt. He didn’t hold her tightly, but she didn't feel any less secure in his arms. It was a comfortable feeling, warm and safe. Definitely a feeling that she could get used to. She took in a deep breath and it wasn’t until Seven rested his chin on her forehead and started gently rubbing her back that she realized that it was a little shaky.

“Whatcha thinking about?” he asked.

She shook her head and buried her head deeper into his chest. 

“Come on, tell me,” he said.

“No,” _____ whined like a a kid.

“I’ll tickle you if you don’t tell me,” he threatened.

“No, don’t!” she said and lifted her head out of his shirt. 

“Tell me and I won’t,” he said with a shit eating grin on is face.

_____ felt her face heat up. “I was just thinking about how…” she mumbled the last bit and looked to the side. 

“What? I didn’t catch that,” he said and turned his head so that his ear was closer to her mouth. “Thinking about how what?”  
_____ chewed at her lip. “About how comfortable it is when you hold me…” 

Seven’s cheeks started warming up just a bit. He coughed and looked to the side. “Well, if it makes you feel any better, I would probably hold you any chance I got,” he said, trying to sound cool.

_____ looked at him and noticed the blush on his cheeks. She giggled a bit. “I should get into the shower before we go. I smell like dog and Honey might appreciate it if I didn't smell like that anymore.” She started to pull out of his arms when he tightened his arms. 

“Wait,” he said.

She looked up at him, her hands on his chest. “Are you okay?”

He brushed some hair out of her face and leaned his forehead against hers. “Can I kiss you?”

_____ blinked a bit and her face turned pink. “Yeah. I think so,” she said.

Seven smiled at her before he gently connected his lips to hers and he tightened his arms around her. _____ slid her arms around his neck and kissed him back. She found herself thinking that she could also get used to kissing him like this, too. She didn’t want to think of him as better as Jeong, but as his own person, but she also had to admit that she felt better around Seven then she ever did when she was with Jeong. 

But that could also have been her broken heart looking back at the past relationship in a darker light and rebounding onto Seven.

When that though crossed her mind, she pulled back. Seven followed her a fraction of an inch, before he let her retreat. Instead of looking disappointed at her ending the kiss so soon, he was smiling at her. She wondered if he knew what she thought. Part of her thought he did because he already seemed to have been able to hack into her brain, given that he almost always knew what she was thinking. The other part hoped that didn’t know because she didn’t want to hurt him. 

She pecked him lightly. “I’ll be out of be shower in a little bit if you want to hop in afterwards.” 

He nodded and let go of her. “All right. Enjoy your shower,” he said with a smile.

*    *    *

When _____ walked out of the shower she saw Seven sitting at his set up. He changed into a plain white button down shirt, buttoned all the way to the top and a pair of black jeans. His shirt was tucked in and _____ had to admit that he looked rather stuffy like that. The screen of his computer reflected in the lenses of his glasses. She walked up next to him, dressed in her own outfit of black and white, and looked at the screen. The green type on the black background looked like absolute gibberish to him, but she knew that Seven could understand it. She found herself wondering what it would be like to speak the same language as him. 

“Could you teach me?” she asked.

“Huh?” Seven said and turned to look at her “Teach you…” his voice trailed off as he looked at _____.  
His eyes widened when he saw what she was wearing. He looked her up and down, taking in her appearance. She looked beautiful in her black and white dress. He pushed up his glasses and stood up, the chair nearly falling over behind him.

“You, um… you look beautiful,” he said lamely, scratching the back of his head. 

_____ blushed a bit, but smiled regardless. “Thank you,” she said and tilted her head at his buttoned up shirt. She frowned and undid the top two buttons. “There. Much better.” 

Seven smirked. “If you want me to undress, all you have to do is ask,” he said.

_____ giggled a bit. “No, you just looked a little stuffy and uncomfortable like that. Besides, that’s not what I asked.”

“Asked?” Seven questioned and tilted his head to the side. “Oh right… Teach you what?”

_____ motioned to the computer screen where the lines of code stopped moving. “Teach me how to code, hack,” she said. 

Seven looked from her to the computer and then back to her. He sighed and looked up, running his fingers through his hair. After a second, he looked back down at her, sitting back in his chair. Before he said anything, he reached up and grabbed her hand, pulling her into his lap. For a long moment, they just sat there, Seven holding _____ in his lap and _____ wondering when he was going to say something. 

“Why do you want to learn how to code?” he asked in a soft voice. 

_____ lifted head out from underneath his chin and looked him. “I want to speak the same language as you.”

“But we already do,” he said and brushed the back of his hand against her cheek lightly. 

_____ noticed that he looked kind of sad. “You know what I mean,” she said. “Not the language that everyone understands, the language that only you understand.” 

Seven smiled slightly. “You already speak that, too,” he said. “You don’t need to learn how to code to talk to me in a language only I understand. Besides, many other people understand it, too.”

She sighed. “Why don’t you want to teach me how to code?””

“Because there's no need for you to be like me,” he said and looked her right in the eyes. “What I do isn’t clean. It’s not something I want someone like you to get involved with. You’re so pure and innocent and I don’t want to be the reason that gets ruined.”

“I’m not pure and innocent,” _____ challenged. 

“I’m not talking about the biblical sense,” he said. “Listen. Me and hackers like me are the cockroaches of the internet. We weasel our way into the past of people and find out their dirtiest secrets. Sometimes we use those secrets ourselves or we give them to people we work for. I’ve had to erase my past to keep myself and others safe. I live my life in a dark room surrounded by computer screens. You get to live you life out in the light, smiling and happy and surrounded by friends. I want you to stay like that.” 

“But what if I want to be like you?” she said. “What if that life sounds so lonely to me and I don’t want you to be alone anymore?”

Seven froze. He looked like a statue sitting there. He just stared straight ahead at her. She wasn’t even sure if he was breathing. Finally he spoke. 

“Trust me,” he said. “You don’t want to be like me, afraid to get close to anyone, always worried that someone is going to find you and hurt you or the people you care about.” He brushed some hair out of her face. “Besides, I don’t mind being alone. I’ve been doing this since I was younger. I’m used to it. You don’t need to change yourself just to keep me company.”

“But you aren’t those things,” she said. “I can tell you don’t like being lonely. Don’t lie to me.”

Seven laughed. “Trust me, I'm okay.”

“You got close to me,” _____ said. “Actions speak louder then words. If you weren’t lonely, why would you want to be around someone broken like me?”

“By the time I realized what I was doing, it was already too late. I would have hurt you. I don’t want that,” he said. “And please don’t ever say you’re broken again. You’re not. You’ve just had you’re heart broken and you’re just starting to heal. It’s okay to feel the way you’re feeling right now after what just happened. And believe me when I say that I'm terrified that something is going to happen to you. That hacker that brought you here is still out there and we still don’t know why. If he were to hurt you I don’t know what I would do.” He bowed his head and rested it on _____’s shoulder.

“I can take can take care of myself.”

“Be that as it may, I don’t to put you in a more danger than you already are,” he said. “Please, just trust me. Stay the way you are. You don’t need to be like me.”

_____ was silent for a moment before she sighed and rested the side of her head against his and wrapped her arms around him. “All right,” she conceded.

Seven tightened his arms around her, almost painfully so. “Thank you.”

_____ closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She was going to smell like him after this. She hoped that the others weren’t going to question it. But then she found herself wondering what he meant when he said that they spoke the same language, one that only he could understand. She opened her mouth to ask him, but before she got the chance, her phone started to ring. She pulled away from Seven and reached for it on the dining room table. Sliding her finger against the slender glass screen she put it up to her ear. 

“Hello?” she asked.

“_____?” Zen said. “What’s going on? I thought you said an hour? Did something happen?”

“No. Everything’s fine, Zen. We’re leaving now. We’ll be there in about ten minutes. Tell Yoosung that we’ll be there after we get you.” 

“Is everything okay? You sound upset. Did Seven do anything to you?” Zen asked, a hard edge to his voice. 

“Yes everything is fine. No Seven didn't do anything. We were just talking,” _____ said. 

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yeah. I’ll be okay. You don’t need to worry about me, Zen,” she said. “We’ll be there in a few minutes.” 

Before Zen could answer, she hung up the phone and looked at Seven. He had lifted his head off her shoulder while she was talking and was looking at her. 

“Zen?” 

_____ nodded. “We should probably go get him and Yoosung before we meet up with Jumin and Jaehee.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ohtay guys. I need your help here; so please leave comments. 
> 
> Remember in the last chapter where Seven and Jumin were talking about getting back at Jeong at the party, a plan that Jumin was formulating that would involve Seven and _____? 
> 
> Yeah well, I need suggestions on what those plans should be? Leave suggestions for me and when I get enough good ones, I'll create a poll for you all to vote at for which idea you guys like best. 
> 
> (I'll of course give credit to who gave the idea who won the poll.)
> 
> Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!  
> Thank you


	16. Jumin's Attempt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dinner with the RFA gang leads to some interesting times. Seven comes mostly clean about what he's thinking while also messing with our neighborhood blonde cinnamon roll.

After _____ and Seven picked up Yoosung and Zen, they pulled up in front of the address that Jumin had sent them. _____ managed to cheer herself up on the drive to pick up Zen so that she wouldn’t worry him or Yoosung. Regardless of how cheerful she seemed, though, Seven would always worry, to there was no point in trying to put on a facade for him. But at least it seemed like he was going to pretend that the conversation at the apartment didn't happen while they were at dinner. Not until they got back at least. 

As they passed the front of the building, Zen, _____ and Yoosung looked up at the extravagant entrance. _____ and Yoosung were awestruck while Zen looked at the restaurant with mildly concealed contempt. When Seven parked in a spot, everyone piled out of the car, stretching in various ways from being stuffed in the car.

“Stupid trust fund kid, flaunting his money,” he muttered. 

“You’ve said that already, Zen,” Yoosung said. 

_____ looked at Zen, putting on her best pouty face. “Can't you just enjoy it this once? For me?” she asked and batted her eyelashes at him.

Zen looked a little uncomfortable with _____ looking at him like that, fixing the tie he wore. He let out a sigh and looked to the side. “Fine. Just this once, though.”

_____ smiled and kissed his cheek. “Thank you, lovely Zen!” she said.

Seven walked up on the other side of her and gently took her hand, squeezing it lightly to let her know that he was still there before he let it go. _____ looked at him with a small smile. 

“Well, shall we?” she asked.

Yoosung nodded, Zen grunted, and Seven made a grand bowing gesture at her with a grin on his face. “After you,” he said. 

_____ ruffled his hair and started walking. The boys followed behind her and as they neared the entrance of the restaurant they saw Jumin and Jaehee standing in front of the doors. _____ walked up to them and Jaehee greeted her with a hug and a smile. Jumin reached over and put a hand on her head by way of greeting, clearly too stiff for a hug. 

“I’m glad you made it all right,” Jaehee said. 

“Yeah, sorry we’re late. Seven and I were talking about some important things and we lost track of time,” _____ said. 

Jaehee frowned, looking worried. “Are you okay?” 

_____ nodded. “Yes. Thank you,” she replied. 

“If that’s all then, shall we head inside?” Jumin said. “Our table is waiting for us.” 

_____ nodded and Jumin led the group inside. The hostess greeted them and led them to a semi private area of the restaurant, protected on three sides by half walls. There were a few tables there, but they were mostly empty save for a few which were occupied by people of the upper class or celebrities that didn’t want to be seated with the general public. 

The hostess set menus down at the seats before everyone sat down, then she left with a bow and a promise that their server would arrive shortly to take their drink orders. Everyone took their seats, Zen and Seven on either side of _____ and Jaehee, Yoosung and Jumin on the other side of the table. 

“Since this is my treat,” Jumin started, “You don’t need to worry about the price.”

“So why now all of a sudden?” Zen asked, putting his elbow on the table as he leaned forward on his hand, narrowing his eyes at the other man. 

Jumin met Zen’s leer with a steady gaze of his own. “I thought I explained this to you already,” he said. “I simply though that an extravagant dinner would help cheer _____ up.” 

“I feel like thats not the only reason for this,” Zen said. “Come on, out with it.” 

“Zen,” _____ said and put a hand on his arm. “Please. Stop looking a gift horse in the mouth. You promised me that you would enjoy this.”

Zen sighed and took his arm off the table. “Fine, fine, you win.” He leaned back in his chair and folded his menu, looking at the listings. 

“Thank you for treating us, Jumin,” _____ said and looked at him. “It really means a lot to me.” 

“No thanks necessary,” Jumin said. “I’ve been meaning to bring us all out for dinner one of these days anyway. This was just the perfect excuse.” 

Zen narrowed his eyes again and opened his mouth to say something, but _____ elbowed him in the gut before he could get a syllable out. He sighed and sat back again.

“Yeah, thanks Jumin,” he muttered.

The waiter arrived not long later to take everyone’s drink orders. _____ and Seven got Dr. Pepper, Jumin and Jaehee ordered wine, and Zen and Yoosung each asked for some of the draft beer. 

“Are you sure you want to drink, Yoosung?” Zen asked once the waiter left. 

“You remember what happened last time,” Jaehee said.

“I’ll be fine,” Yoosung said. “I’m only going to have one.” 

“That's what we’re afraid of,” Zen muttered.

*     *     *

The drinks came and went and after dinner was served, everyone was on or close to their second drink. Except Yoosung. He was barely finished with his first and everyone already cut him off. He had only drank about the equivalent of maybe one of Zen’s cans that he keep in his apartment and he was already sloshed. He was half leaning out of his chair and Jaehee had to pull him back into his seat every few minutes. 

_____ sat with her elbow on the table and her hand in the palm of her face. Seven was grinning like a madman, finding undeniable pleasure in Yoosung making a fool of himself all by himself. Zen was sitting much like _____ was, except with both hands instead of one. And Jumin, calm stoic emotionless Jumin, was just sitting in his seat, sipping his wine with his eyes closed, trying very hard to ignore Yoosung and his drunken antics. Some of the few patrons of the secluded area were looking on to the show with suppressed expressions of amusement while others politely tried to ignore it. At one point a waiter came and asked it he was all right, to which Jumin replied with a large tip and was told he was fine.

“You know I love you guys, right?” Yoosung slurred for the countless time that evening. 

“Yes, Yoosung. You can stop telling us now,” _____ groaned with a sigh. 

“Actually, you know how you can show you how much you love us, Yoosung?” Seven asked. His face had to have been hurting from how much he was smiling.

Yoosung drunkenly turned his head up and looked at Seven. “No,” he gasped, “how?”

“You can sing us a song!” Seven said. 

Zen and _____’s eyes widened. “No!” they said together. 

“Seven!” _____ said and clamped her hand over his mouth. 

“Don’t you dare, Yoosung,” Zen said and glared hard at Yoosung. He then turned to Jaehee. “Switch with me.” 

Jaehee nodded and stood. Seven turned and looked at _____ and smirked under her fingers before licking her hand. 

“Gross!” _____ said and moved her hand away from his face. She made a disgusted look at him and wiped her hand on the rolled up sleeves of his shirt. “Really?” 

“Yes, really,” he said and nudged her with his arm. 

“Do you really need to make this worse for him? He’s going to wake up tomorrow so embarrassed,” she said. 

“Oh but of course,” Seven said. “Messing with Yoosung is one of the simplest pleasures I have.” He made puppy dog eyes at her. “Would you really take that away from me.” 

“Tonight, yes,” she said.

“Boo,” he said and pouted at her. 

_____ sighed and turned to look at Zen who was sitting in Jaehee’s seat and was getting basically attacked by Yoosung. He was crying. 

“But Zeeeen,” he whined. “Why can’t I?”

“Because we aren’t at some run of the mill bar, Yoosung,” Zen said, sounding particularly annoyed. He looked at Jumin. “Why did you let him get the drink?” 

“It’s not my fault that he thought he could handle it,” Jumin replied, casually taking a sip of his wine.

“Aren’t you going to do anything? This is going to look bad for you, too,” Zen said. 

“What is there for me to do?” he said. “Besides, we’re almost done here,” he added as he took the final bite of his dish. 

_____ sighed. “I guess he does have a point…” she said. 

“Regardless of whether or not he has a point, this is embarrassing,” Zen said and face palmed. 

“_____,” Yoosung whined. “Can I please sing for you guys? I wanna show you how much I love you!” 

“How about you wait until we’re back in the car, Yoosung,” _____ replied gently. 

Yoosung pouted and crossed his arms, sitting hunched over in his chair with his head turned to the side. “Fine,” he said. 

“There’s also another condition,” _____ said. 

“What’s that?” he said and looked at her through the corner of his eye. 

“You have to be quiet, okay? Until we leave,” she told him. “If not, then we won’t let you sing for us.” 

Yoosung frowned a bit as he pondered this condition before he nodded. “Okay. You won’t even know that I’m here!” he said and made an over dramatic motion of zipping his lips closed and throwing away the key.

“Much better,” _____ said.

Yoosung sat back on his chair, looking a little less unhappy and started eating his food, trying to be as quiet about it as he could. Zen looked from between _____ and Yoosung before his eyes finally rested on _____.

“How did you manage that?” he asked.

“He acts like a big child when drunk and I’m used to dealing with kids. When I was younger I used to babysit these two little devils,” she explained. “He’s not much worse then they were.” 

“Huh, I’m impressed,” Zen said.

*     *     *

After _____’s little magic trick with calming Yoosung down, dinner passed relatively smoothly. Until they left and Yoosung started up again. When they started driving away, Yoosung kept pestering _____ about singing a song for them, much to Seven’s absolute delight. He kept on goading the drunk boy until _____ finally gave in and told him just one song. She gave Zen a look that basically told him to cover his ears.

When they finally dropped off the two other boys, Seven and _____ drove in silent for a moment before Seven reached over and put a hand on her leg, trying to get her attention.

“Hey,” he said. “Are you okay?” 

_____ sighed. “How many more times are you and everyone else going to ask me that?” she asked, but put her hand over his anyway. “I’m okay.” 

He looked over at him with an expression that said he didn’t quite believe that. “Tell me the truth.” 

 

She sighed again and closed her fingers around his. “I don’t know. I’m all jumbled up inside.” 

“Why?” 

“Jeong, you, what you said earlier.” 

“Which part? I said a lot.” 

“When you said that I already spoke a language that only you understood and I don’t need to change just to be near you,” she said honestly. 

Seven chuckled lightly as he pulled his car up into a parking space. “It’s true,” he said. “You’re like the sun, warming me up in the dark room I’ve lived in. Why would I not want to be around you?” 

_____ shrugged. “And what about the language part?” 

“I thought that was obvious. But I guess I’ll just have to show you one of these days,” he said and took his hand off of hers and got out of the car. 

_____ got out of the car as well and walked up next to him. “Why not just tell me now?” 

“I’d have to find all of the proof,” he said. “But when I do, you’ll be the first to see it.” _____ smiled up at him. “Oh, and about Jeong,” Seven added. “you don’t need to feel anything for him. Nothing at all. He’s hurting you in ways that can’t be anything but intentional.” He smoothed out her hair on the side of her face before sliding his hand down her arm and taking her hand, walking towards the apartment. “But I also understand that it's not that simple, so I’m going to stay by your side. Feel free to use me how you want,” he pushed the button on the elevator. The doors opened immediately and they walked in. “It can be to get back at him, or as your boyfriend, as someone you genuinely care about, which I must say is my preferred option.” He smirked down at her and pressed the button to their floor. When the doors closed, he pulled her into his arms. 

_____ looked up at him, her hands on his chest. “I couldn’t do that to you,” she said. “I care about you too much to use you in a way that could hurt you.” 

He smiled and kissed her forehead gently. “I worded that a little strange,” he said. “Listen, I really like you, there's really no point in denying it at this point, but I know you’re still upset about Jeong and what just happened at the cafe earlier. So I’ll take what I can get,” he said and brushed his thumb against her cheek. “And I’ll wait for you.”

_____ reached up and put her hand over his, pressing her cheek into his hand. She opened her mouth to say something, but the elevator door open and she turned to look at the door to her apartment. 

“Um… Seven?” 

“Yes? What is it?” he asked. He was still looking at her when she spoke, but followed her line of sight.

“Did we leave the front door open?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I still need more ideas for Jumin's Plan so that I can make a poll where you guys will vote about which you would want to happen in the story. So please if you have any ideas as to what you would like to see happen, please drop a comment!   
> Thank you!!


	17. Unknown Intruder

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who broke into the apartment? How is _____ going to handle that someone broke in and stole something of hers? Will Seven be able to help her? And who is this mysterious man who is oh so interested in _____?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still looking for ideas to add to the poll for what Jumin's plan is. Comment with any ideas you may have!

_____ and Seven froze for all of three seconds before they started slowly walking to the open door. _____ reached out to push the door open more when Seven’s hand clamped down on her wrist, stopping her. 

“I’ll go in first,” he said. “Wait out here and I’ll call you when the coast is clear.” 

_____ swallowed, her heartbeat speeding up, but she nodded. “Be careful, okay?” 

Seven smirked at her. “I do this kind of stuff for a living. I’ll be fine,” he said. “Though… I could use a kiss for good luck.” 

_____ frowned and looked at him, whacking him lightly on the arm. “I don’t think this is the time to be making jokes,” she said. 

“Sorry, couldn’t help myself,” he said and then turned to the door. “Don’t come in until I call you.” 

She nodded again. Seven gave her a reassuring smile before he stepped in front of her and pushed the door open. He walked in and _____ was left in the hallway. Thoughts started swirling around in her head.   
Who could have been able to break into her apartment? Why would they? Were they still in the apartment? Did they take

Honey? Oh god. Was Honey okay?! 

_____ was about to reach for the door to walk in just as it swung open. She jumped nearly 10 feet in the air, her heart jumping into her throat. She looked up and saw Seven standing there with a frown on his face. 

“You should see this,” he said and held out his hand. 

_____ took it and let him lead her inside. She didn’t know what she was expecting. Maybe blood on the walls or the apartment looking like a mess. Instead she found that the rooms were cleaned, impeccably so. It gave the apartment a strange feeling. The apartment was definitely hers, but somehow it didn’t feel like it. 

Honey was curled up on the couch, the mattress folded up and put away. The table with Seven’s set up looked straightened

up, the empty bags of chips and soda cans picked up and thrown out.

“I couldn’t tell if anything was missing,” Seven said. “But I found this on the kitchen table.” 

He held out a note to _____. She took it in her hands and read over it.

 

______,  
_

_Sorry I missed you. I’ll have to come back another day to bring you to Paradise. I look forward to meeting you.  
_

_Unknown.  
_

_P.S. I picked up some good reading material. I hope you don’t mind~_

 

“What do you think he means by reading material?” Seven wondered aloud. 

Without answering, _____ rushed into her room. Like the other rooms it was picked up. Everything looked to be in order. She ran to her desk and pulled open the top drawer. The spot where she kept a journal was empty and she felt her heart drop. 

“_____ what is it?” Seven asked. 

“My journal,” she said, strains at the drawer. “He took my journal.”

*     *     *

-_____ entered the chat room-

**_____** : is anyone awake?

**Zen** : What are you still doing up? 

**Zen** : wait

**Zen** : Did something happen? 

**Zen** : is everything okay? 

**Zen** : did it finally happen? 

**Zen** : did Seven force himself on you?!

**_____** : … 

**_____** : Zen…

**_____** : Now’s not really the time for jokes. 

**_____** : Seven and I…

**_____** : Someone broke into my apartment while we were gone. 

**Zen** : WHAT!? 

**Zen** : ARE YOU OKAY?!

**_____** : I’m okay. A little shaken up. 

**_____** : He left a note. 

**_____** : And stole my journal. 

**_____** : I’m sorry. 

**Zen** : why are you sorry?

**_____** : I wrote about you guys in that journal. 

**_____** : Because I couldn’t tell Jeong anything about it when we were together

**_____** : I started journaling about what happened. 

**_____** : So some of the things you guys told me in confidence are in there. 

**_____** : I’m so sorry. 

**Zen** : Listen. 

**Zen** : It’s not your fault. 

**Zen** : None of us are going to blame you

**Zen** : Least of all me. 

**_____** : …

**_____** : thank you but…

**_____** : I was just so careless. I should have locked it up or something. 

**Zen** : _____

**Zen** : stop. 

**Zen** : You don’t need to blame yourself. 

-707 entered the chat room-

**707** : That’s what I’ve been trying to tell her. 

**Zen** : Were you just lurking this whole time? 

**707** : Maybe. 

**707** : Anyway. I’ve been trying to tell her that. 

**707** : That if Unknown had wanted to know about us, he wouldn’t use her diary for it. 

**707** : he could have just done what I do. 

**707** : I think he took her diary for a different reason. 

**_____** : it’s a journal. 

**707** : …

**707** : Okay, a journal. 

**Zen** : I think I agree with Seven here, _____.

**Zen** : It’s a diary. 

**_____** : …

**Zen** : I’m kidding.

**Zen** : He probably didn’t take it for any of the things you wrote about our personal lives in it. 

**Zen** : what other things did you write about in there. 

**_____** : … 

**_____** : my feelings about being sucked into all of this. 

**_____** : how I felt about everything. 

**_____** : Feelings about you guys that I couldn’t really admit to myself or anyone because I was with Jeong. 

**707** : well

**707** : that might have been why he took it. 

**707** : He’s taunting us, _____.

**707** : That’s why he told you he took the journal. 

**707** : he wants you to panic. 

**Zen** : Since when are you so mature and responsible, Seven?

**707** : Oh shut up. 

**_____** : …

**_____** : Thank’s guys. 

**707** : no thanks necessary. 

**707** : So can you please open the door and let me in? Or come out? 

**707** : Locking yourself in your room isn’t gong to solve anything. 

**707** : Come out and talk to me. 

**Zen** : I don’t think I want to know what happened. 

**707** : you really don’t. 

**707** : right, _____?

**707** : ;)

**_____** : …

**_____** : yeah, right. 

**_____** : anyway. I’ll be right out. 

-_____ left the chat room-

**Zen** : So what happened? 

**707** : she’s just really shaken up. 

**707** : I can’t really blame her. 

**707** : first Jeong

**707** : Now the break in. 

**707** : it’s a lot.

**Zen** : take care of her. 

**Zen** : text me if you need and i’ll be there to help. 

**707** : Alright. 

**707** : see ya. 

-707 left the chat room-

*     *     *

_____ crawled out from under her covers and walked to the door, slowly opening it. Seven was standing there, still in his clothes from dinner. _____ had changed out of hers almost automatically after she shoved Seven out of her room when she found out that Unknown had taken her journal. When she opened the door, Seven turned and looked at her. His face was twisted with worry and concern and before _____ could say anything, he reached for her and pulled her into his arms.

“Talk to me,” he said. 

“I don’t know what to say,” she said and slipped her arms around him, burying her face in his shoulder. 

“Say anything,” he said.

_____ was silent for a moment before she pressed her face in into his chest even more. “I just… I feel so vulnerable. Like I don’t have anywhere I can feel safe anymore. I don’t know when Unknown will come back. Will I be alone when it happens? Will you be there to protect me? Will I be able to protect myself?” 

Seven tightened his arms around her and pressed his face into her hair. “I’ll be here to protect you,” Seven said. “I promise I’ll do everything I can to keep you safe.” 

_____ sniffled and curled her hands into fists in his shirt. she started shaking, trying not to cry. She didn’t want to cry. Not because she thought that it made her weak. But because she knew that if she started, she wouldn’t stop. Almost five minutes later, she had calmed herself enough. She pulled out of Seven’s arms and wiped her face. 

“I’m okay,” she said. “I’m sorry for what I said before.” 

He reached out and brushed her cheek with his fingers. “You don’t need to apologize. I understand. Today’s been a long day.” 

She nodded and sniffled once more. “I guess.” 

He grabbed her hand and led her into the living room again. He pulled out the couch bed again and it sat there, made and ready to sleep on. He sat down on the bed and patted the spot next to him. She sat down and leaned against him. 

“I know,” he said. “And it’s still not done. Not yet. There's still one thing we need to talk about.” 

She looked at him. “What do you mean?” 

“The cafe.” 

_____ sighed and closed her eyes. She had nearly forgotten about it in all of the confusion with the break in. “I don’t really know what to say about it, really,” she said.

“How did it make you feel?” Seven said and _____ could hear the smirk in his voice. 

“All right, Dr. Choi,” she joked, lightly, feeing some of the life come back into her. “I felt hurt. I felt like he tore out my healing heart and shredded it right back up again. I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I felt like he was taking pleasure in watching me suffer like that. I also felt like he was somehow ashamed of me because his new girlfriend didn’t seem to know anything about me.” 

“I don’t know if it was something like shame,” Seven said. “But go on.” 

_____ frowned. “I wanted to scream at him. I wanted to break something. I wanted to push him up against the wall and demand answers from him. I wanted throw something. I wanted to make him feel what I was feeling. I want to get back at him. I want him to suffer.” 

Seven brushed his thumb against her cheek. “No you don’t,” he said. “You’re not a vindictive person.” 

_____ sighed. “Okay, yeah, you’re right. But still. In that moment, I did,” she said. “And I didn’t have any sort of outlet so I ran out. I couldn’t be in there anymore with his cheerful girlfriend and him standing there like he didn’t care.” 

Seven reached out and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her into his lap. “I know,” he said. “You did good.” 

“I guess,” she said. “But also because of that, I felt a strange sense of peace. When I was able to think, I realized something.” 

“What?” 

“Because he has a girlfriend,” she started. “Because he doesn’t seem to care about me anymore I felt like I could finally start actually moving on…” she looked up at Seven. “It’s a weird, almost sad feeling.”

Seven smiled slightly at her. “It usually is. You’re leaving something behind. Something you thought was perfect. You’re realizing that seemingly perfect thing wasn’t so perfect at all.”

“It doesn’t leave me any less confused about you, though,” she added. 

His smile never wavered. “I know,” he said and rested his chin on the top of her head. “You should probably get some sleep. You’ve had a long emotional day.” 

“Can I sleep with you?” she asked. 

Seven chuckled. “Well aren’t you being bold tonight.” 

“Look. I just don’t want to be alone. What if Unknown comes back?”

Seven frowned. “Yeah, okay. Good point.” 

“Thank you,” she said and kissed his cheek. 

“Don’t mention it.” 

“By the way,” _____ said, yawning. “I wrote about you a lot in the journal…”

Seven raised an eyebrow at her. “What did you say about me?” he said with a smirk. 

“Maybe I'll tell you later, just maybe.” 

Seven laughed lightly. “Tease.”

*     *     *

Seven laid there on the bed watching _____ sleep. She looked so peaceful. He brushed her hair out of her face gently before he rolled over and grabbed his phone. He grabbed his phone and dialed a number. 

“Hello?” Jumin answered. 

“It's me,” Seven said. 

“Do you realize what time it is?” Jumin said. 

“Yeah I know. Listen,” Seven said. “I'm in. I'll help with your scheme.”

“Is that all you wanted to tell me?” Jumin asked. Seven couldn't tell if he was actually upset or not. 

“Pretty much, yeah.”

“Fine. If that's all, I'm going back to sleep.”

“Bye,” Seven said and hung up the phone. 

He put it back on the night stand before he turned back to look at _____. He sighed and rested his forehead against her lightly before he closed his eyes, starting to count sheep until he too fell asleep.

*     *     *

_You know if I had met Seven first, before Jeong, I probably would have been very happy in a relationship with him…_

Unknown flopped back in his chair in front of the multitude of computer screens in a small dark room. The journal he stole from _____’s apartment when he found that she wasn’t there laid open in his lap. He wanted to close the book and leave it somewhere, but he knew he needed to keep reading. He needed dirt on _____, something he could use to bring her to Magenta. Unfortunately, what he found wasn’t something he thought he was going to be able to happily work with.

The line on the page, the last line written from the fourth day that she kept the journal, glared at him. It almost seemed to mock him. The girl he was trying to bring to Paradise was on _his_ side. He would have to reconsider. 

Or maybe he would just have to make her forget about him.

 

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Dangerous Words](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8278597) by [AshREvans](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AshREvans/pseuds/AshREvans)




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